GLASTONBURY MOVING TO 2021

Glastonbury has confirmed that its 50th anniversary event, due to take place at the end of June, has been postponed due to the coronavirus. The festival will happen in 2021 instead.

The news was announced today via Twitter in a letter from Michael and Emily Eavis. “Clearly this was not a course of action we hoped to take for our 50th anniversary event, but following the new government measures announced this week—and in times of such unprecedented uncertainty—this is now our only viable option.”

The festival was set for June 24-28 at Worthy Farm with Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar headlining. A host of other acts were announced last week, including Dua Lipa, Pet Shop Boys and Mabel.

Last year’s headliners were The Killers, The Cure, Stormzy and Kylie Minogue. Radiohead, Foo Fighters and Ed Sheeran toplined the 2017 event. (2018 was a “fallow year” to allow the grounds to recover). Its first two editions, held in 1970 and 71, featured The Kinks and David Bowie; the fest then went dark for seven years, resuming in 1979 with Peter Gabriel as the star.

Since 2007, organizers have capped ticket sales at 135,000 people and the GA tickets sell out within an hour. Among its more famous editions was the extraordinarily muddy 2016 event with Adele, Coldplay and Muse. The fest first crossed the 100k attendance mark in 1998 with Primal Scream, Blur and Pulp.

As the festival grew—a mere 12,000 people attended the Bowie and Gabriel weekends—it developed a taste for the eccentric in its bookings; Ginger Baker, New Order and Taj Mahal played in 1981; the 1982 lineup was highly rootsy with Van Morrison, Richie Havens and Climax Blues Band; 1984 had The Smiths, reggae act Black Uhuru, Elvis Costello and jazz fusion masters Weather Report.