It’s being billed as a walking replacement – but before you start sharpening your pitchfork and heading to the comment section, keep in mind that Toyota is largely targeting those with mobility issues.
This isn’t meant to be a Wall-E style lazy mobile, but rather is intended to make it easier for those who have trouble walking to get around large complexes like shopping malls and airports more easily.
The C+walkT can travel at speeds of between 2-10 km/h (1.2-6.0 mph).
Don’t get all excited about that 6 mph top speed yet though. Toyota says the fastest mode is only for “experienced users”.
Helping riders before they are quite that “advanced”, the scooter has advanced obstacle avoidance technology built in to prevent collisions at top speed. The scooter scans ahead of itself and automatically slows down to 2 km/h (1.2 mph) when it senses an upcoming obstacle.
Show me a Wal-Mart wheelchair that can do that!
As the company explains:
“The C+walkT is equipped with obstacle detection functions that help avoid collisions with obstacles or pedestrians ahead. When the periphery detection sensor at the front of the vehicle detects a person or obstacle, the operating system issues both a visual alert on the display panel and an audio alert, and decelerates the vehicle to approximately 2 km/h, so providing support for safe riding.”
The C+walkT is powered by a 250 W motor and 272 Wh removable battery. The device isn’t made for the largest or tallest of riders though, with a weight rating of up to 100 kg (220 lb). It’s rated to support riders up to 1.85 meters (6 feet) tall, so anyone gifted in the height department might need to look for another ride.
For those that do qualify, they’ll find handlebars protected by dirtbike-style guards that actually wrap all the way around the front of the bars and connect in the middle. There’s no way anyone is smacking their knuckles while riding this thing.
Toyota has also placed an emphasis on making the scooter as comfortable as possible for both its users and other people around it.
As the company continued:
“The vehicle is designed to be ridden standing-up for easy person-to-person communication, and adopts a modern form that minimizes feelings of stress for people nearby.”
If you want to try a C+walkT yourself, you’ll have to head over to Japan. Toyota is debuting the device in its domestic market next month, where it will be priced at around US $3,000.
Glastonbury 2024 has come to an end, with US singer-songwriter SZA closing the show on the Pyramid Stage following a spectacular weekend of celebrity cameos, fireworks and crowd-surfing.
And music, of course.
Dua Lipa, Coldplay, Little Simz, Shania Twain, Janelle Monae and Cyndi Lauper were among the big names performing, and that was just on the main stage – which is one of more than 100 across Glastonbury‘s massive Worthy Farm site in Somerset.
Image: SZA closed the festival. Pic: Yui Mok/PA
It has been a record-breaking year. With SZA’s nature-inspired set on Sunday following Lipa’s on Friday, this year’s event is the first ever to feature two female headliners. And Coldplay have now headlined five times, more than any other act.
Let’s relive the highlights of another weekend that showed exactly why this is the greatest festival in the world, from the main events to the bits you might have missed.
Michael J Fox on stage, Tom Cruise backstage
Image: Michael J Fox on stage with Coldplay. Pic: BBC
Some sniffy corners of the internet had been sceptical about Coldplay’s return to headline Glastonbury for a record-breaking fifth time, but on Saturday night Chris Martin and co proved exactly why they are perfect for this slot.
Their celebrity fans certainly seem to think so. On stage, after appearances from other artists including Little Simz, they were joined by none other than Hollywood legend Michael J Fox playing guitar for the tearjerker Fix You.
Behind the scenes, Tom Cruise was among those watching stage-side, while Martin’s partner Dakota Johnson also appeared to be seen on camera.
Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis was also watching, and received a dedication ditty from the Coldplay frontman, who told him: “We just want to thank you, as humans go you’re the best of all sorts. You’re a musical charmer, you’re the world’s greatest farmer. Whoever got knighted wearing shorts? Thank you Michael, we love you.”
The following day, Fox shared pictures from the festival on Instagram. “Oh yeah in case you were wondering… it was f****** mind blowing. There is a time for every band and a band for every time. This is Coldplay’s time.”
Dua Lipa joins the crowd
Image: Dua Lipa closed the show on Friday, partied on Saturday. Pic: AP
During her headline performance on the Friday night, Dua Lipa explained to fans how she “manifested” the experience, saying she had “written this moment down… wished for it… worked so hard in the hopes that maybe one day I’ll get to do it”.
More than this, her wish was specifically to headline on a Friday, “because then I knew I could party for the next two days in the best place on Earth”.
Well, we can confirm that for the Saturday at least, the star did get to enjoy the festival as a punter (albeit one with access to a proper bed and a shower, probably). We spotted her walking through the crowd at the Other Stage ahead of The Streets’ evening slot, and later backstage in the hospitality area, with her actor boyfriend Callum Turner.
Other celebrity appearances
Image: Stormzy and Maya Jama were among the many celebrities at the festival. Pic: Ben Birchall/PA
Ever since the days of Kate Moss in her micro shorts and wellies in the mid-2000s, Glastonbury has been synonymous with celebrity spotting.
This year was no exception, with former headliner Stormzy, Maya Jama, Alexa Chung, Paul Mescal, Sienna Miller, Cara Delevingne, Leo Woodall and Anya Taylor-Joy among the stars seen around the site.
Noel Gallagher and Dave Grohl (a surprise performer at least year’s event) were also reportedly spotted watching LCD Soundsystem stage-side, and Gallagher was later pictured with Belfast rap trio Kneecap, while Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett went to see Paloma Faith.
Russell Crowe was also on site – as a performer, not a guest – with his band Indoor Garden Party, while Idris Elba gave a speech on the West Holts stage to speak about knife crime and discuss his campaign, Don’t Stop Your Future.
Secret (and not-so secret) sets
Image: Kasabian drew a huge crowd as they were revealed as a secret act. Pic: Ben Birchall/PA
“It’s Happening! See you 6pm at Woodsies @glastonbury.”
It was supposed to be hush hush, but with bookies and secret Glastonbury sources putting their money on Kasabian being the big surprise act in the days beforehand, the Leicester band decided to spill the beans a few hours ahead of the show.
Their message on X was all the confirmation needed to bring thousands to the Woodsies Stage – so many, in fact, the area was closed off almost an hour ahead of the group’s start time as a mass of people tried to gain access in sweltering sunshine.
Kasabian headlined the festival back in 2014, so the tent was in capable hands. Theirs was the biggest secret set slot – and featured crowd-surfing from frontman Sergio Pizzorno – but there were numerous others happening across the site.
Plus, lots of star cameos, such as Mel C and Tilda Swinton joining Orbital, Sam Smith making an appearance with Disclosure, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor teaming up with Peggy Gou.
Mike Skinner for PM?
Image: The Streets’ Mike Skinner joined the crowd during his set at Glastonbury. Pic: Ben Birchall/PA
Another set featuring some energetic crowd-surfing, The Streets slot on the Other Stage was one of the highlights of the weekend.
Mike Skinner was in and out of the crowd during a performance that embodied the spirit of Glastonbury, featuring hits including Blinded By The Lights, Weak Become Heroes, Fit But You Know It, Dry Your Eyes and more.
One fan at the front sharing messages on his phone managed to get them picked up by the cameras. “Mike Skinner for PM,” read one, getting a huge cheer.
Is it too late for next week, do you think?
Glastonbury’s youngest fan?
Image: Baby Finlay became a Glastonbury star. Pic: Tom Leese/PA
As DJ Annie Mac opened the Other Stage with a dance set on Friday morning, there was one fan in the crowd who stole the show.
Wearing stripey pyjamas and ear protectors, perched on top of his dad Tom Kay’s shoulders, 10-week-old Finlay was met with cheers as he appeared on the big screen several times throughout the set, with special effects turning his image turn into a hallucinatory visual.
“Oh my god, this baby, what a little legend,” Mac said to the crowd. She later signed off her performance by thanking “everyone, Glastonbury, and this baby”.
Asked what tips they would give to parents thinking of bringing their young children to a festival, mum Rosie Lewis said: “Do it – you can overthink it and it can put you off. But take more nappies than you think you’ll need and take more vests and outfits than you think you’ll need.”
She’s Still The One
Image: Shania Twain: An official Glastonbury legend. Pic: Ben Birchall/PA
In front of a sea of fans wearing cowboy hats, country star Shania Twain performed a “life-changing” set for the legends slot.
It has become a Sunday afternoon favourite at the festival, with stars including Kylie Minogue, Diana Ross, Dolly Parton and Tom Jones filling it in previous years.
And Twain revealed she had explored the festival site ahead of her debut performance. “This really is a city, it’s a community,” she said.
Political statements
Image: The migrant boat appeared above the crowd during Idles and then Lil Simz’s set. Pic: AP/Celebrity Photos UK/Cover Images
Ahead of the general election, Glastonbury was bound to get political this year.
Damon Albarn was among the artists on stage urging music fans to vote next week, while artists including Charlotte Church made calls to “free Palestine” during their performances.
And an inflatable lifeboat that appeared hoisted into the crowd during Idles’ set on Friday was later confirmed to be the work of artist Banksy.
“Festival-goers cosplaying as migrants, and celebrating the actions of people smugglers, while they party is awful,” Mr Cleverly wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Whatever your political views, this isn’t something we should trivialise.”
The boat appeared as Idles were performing Danny Nedelko, a 2018 release which begins with the lyrics: “My blood brother is an immigrant, a beautiful immigrant.” The band were reportedly not aware it had happened until after the set had finished.
The boat also appeared above the crowd during Lil Simz’s set the following day.
England v Slovakia courtesy of a 1D star
Image: One Direction star Louis Tomlinson took a TV to to watch the England v Slovakia match
Officially, Glastonbury was not showing the Euro 2024 game, which started just at the end of Twain’s set and clashed with acts including Nothing But Thieves, Janelle Monae and Avril Lavigne – but that didn’t stop those England fans who determined to see it.
At one corner of the festival, near to the Silver Hayes area, a crowd gathered around one fan who had set up a flatscreen and a mifi unit to stream the match – who turned out to be One Direction star Louis Tomlinson.
Others were also spotted watching on phones around the site.
It was very almost a low-light, until extra time. Trailing 1-0 for most of the match, England were saved by a Jude Bellingham equaliser in stoppage time, followed quickly by a goal from Harry Kane in extra time.
Image: Emily Eavis, pictured opening the gates this year, already has her sights on 2025. Pic: Reuters/Dylan Martinez
See you next year?
Fans will be pleased to hear organiser Emily Eavis is already in talks with some acts for 2025.
Speaking to the Glastonbury Free Press, the festival’s resident newspaper, she said: “We’re taking a fallow year in 2026 to give the land a rest, and the festival before a fallow year is always a fun one to plan because you almost have to fit two years into one.
“We’re already in talks with some acts for it. It’s exciting.”
We’ll see you in the scramble for tickets in a few months’ time.
Coldplay have become the first act in history to headline Glastonbury five times – playing a record-breaking set to a huge, sparkling audience for whom it felt like coming home.
Thousands in the crowd will no doubt have seen them at least once here before, but no matter – they have their detractors, but you cannot argue with the fact Chris Martin’s band can put on a headline performance worthy of Worthy Farm.
Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis was among the special guests watching stage-side as they performed to a crowd stretching way back into the night, and they were also joined by stars and musicians including rapper Little Simz on stage.
Theirs was a celebration not just of their own significant achievements, as one of the most successful British bands in recent history, but of Glastonbury festival and the talent it has supported throughout the decades.
Image: Pic: PA
But the biggest surprise came from Hollywood legend Michael J Fox, who appeared on guitar for the rousingly emotional Fix You as the penultimate track. It’s a song and a performance even the hardest hearts could not fail to be moved by.
Backstage, Tom Cruise was among the fans watching as fireworks lit the sky.
Image: Michael J Fox in Back To The Future. Pic: Universal Pictures/Kobal/Shutterstock
Image: Michael J Fox and his wife Tracy Pollan in April. Pic: Reuters
Having handed out their traditional Coldplay LED wristbands before the set was under way, this was a gorgeous light show and epic sing-along of audience participation as the band performed hits starting with Yellow, where it all began, and continued through their extensive back-catalogue.
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“I look around and I just see amazing, wonderful people from all over the place and that’s what makes Glastonbury the greatest city on Earth,” Martin told the crowd, in a set featuring songs including Higher Power, Clocks, Viva La Vida, The Scientist and My Universe, which the band recorded with K-pop boy band BTS, with lyrics sung in both English and Korean.
Image: Pic: PA
Earlier in the day, Kasabian had been worst-kept secret of the festival with their surprise set, which led the Woodsies area to be closed off as the crowd grew in anticipation.
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And at the Other Stage, The Streets’ Mike Skinner entertained fans with a crowd-surfing set – with Friday night headliner Dua Lipa spotted in the crowd, making good on her promise to enjoy the festival for the full weekend as a punter, as well as one of its biggest stars.
But Saturday night belonged to Coldplay. This was their first Pyramid Stage headline appearance since 2016 and their fifth in total, meaning they now overtake The Cure, who have headlined four times.
Image: Pic: PA
When the band was announced by festival organisers earlier this year, the news was met with the same criticism the band have faced for years: the music is dull, the choice of headliner uninspired, jokes about Martin turning up everywhere here, etc etc.
Similar will no doubt have been tweeted out during their set. The answer is simple, though: those who don’t like them, don’t have to watch them.
In a morning timeslot when most respectable Glastonbury-goers would usually be in bed, Irish-language rappers Kneecap drew what stage organisers described as a headline-worthy crowd to the area.
The trio have built a name for themselves with a balance of socially conscious lyrics and satire but have really come to the fore in recent months after taking legal action over a UK government decision to block funding they had been granted by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
Often described as controversial, there is no doubt they are unafraid to say what they think – but argue they are simply speaking up for the deprived areas of Northern Ireland, in a language which is “often ignored”.
Image: Kneecap fans during the Electric Picnic Festival in 2022. File pic: PA
Plus, there is a lot of tongue firmly in cheek here.
Three friends from Belfast, Kneecap are Mo Chara (Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh), Móglaí Bap (Naoise Ó Cairealláin) and DJ Próvaí (JJ Ó Dochartaigh, a former teacher who still wears a balaclava initially put in place to disguise himself from his students).
One of their most famous tracks, Get Your Brits Out, has been criticised for being anti-British – but the trio say this is the biggest misconception about the band. And clearly, as it blasts out from a tent in the English countryside, it is loved by the Glastonbury crowd.
Image: Kneecap fans at one of their concerts in 2022. File pic: PA
“This is a thing that people love to spin, like we’re some anti-British band,” says Mo Chara, speaking to Sky News following their successful set. “We have English family. We have loads of good friends who call themselves British. It’s the British government we don’t like.”
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They come from a “serious” area of the world where there has been “drama, a lot of violence”, he says.
“I think we’re the first generation… because we came after the ceasefire or just before it, around that time – ceasefire babies, as people like to call us – […] we’re able to joke about these things that were once traumatising for people in our community.
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“But every side of the community can take a joke and we don’t give people enough credit, that people know how to have a laugh.”
“I think being offended is subjective,” says Móglaí Bap. “We’re having a good time, a bit of craic. There’s a lot of fun with it and all these jokes, humour, it’s all in context, and you can take it out of context and get offended. But I think genuinely, we meet people from all walks of life and they enjoy it.”
Unsurprisingly, the trio have locked horns with quite a few politicians.
At the minute, they are embroiled in a legal battle with the British government over the blocking of £15,000 in funding from the Music Export Growth Scheme, which aims to help UK music groups market themselves abroad.
It’s a “slippery slope” and sets a “bad precedent”, says Móglaí Bap, to only give funding to artists that “align with them… that doesn’t make any sense”.
They are all taxpayers, he adds, and therefore have “every right” to funding that is available to British artists.
A government spokesperson says they are unable to comment due to this being an election period, but the Department for Business and Trade’s decision at the time was that Kneecap’s Republican views made them ineligible.
Image: Rich Peppiatt, Michael Fassbender and Kneecap attend the UK premiere of Kneecap, the opening film of the Sundance London Film Festival. Pic: PA
While they await the outcome of the legal case, the rappers are busy performing following the release of their second album, Fine Art, earlier this month, and are also looking forward to their big-screen debut.
The band members play themselves in a biopic about their rise to prominence, set in post-Troubles Belfast, also starring Irish actor Michael Fassbender. The film has been shown at festivals including Tribeca in New York, and the band say the reaction has been “crazy”.
Which all means it looks like the fanbase will expand even more when the film is released in the summer.
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So while some politicians may fail to see the funny side of Kneecap, there are plenty of young people in Belfast, Glastonbury and beyond who clearly enjoy their irreverence.
