Glastonbury’s 50th birthday cancelled
GLASTONBURY Festival has been cancelled in a move that could affect numerous businesses that rely on the annual event for income.
Organisers promised the ‘greatest show on earth’ but yesterday the 50th anniversary celebration was scrapped due to the growing coronavirus pandemic.
Sir Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift and rapper Kendrick Lamar were scheduled to headline the Pyramid stage, while Diana Ross was booked for the Sunday afternoon legend slot.
Father-daughter duo Michael and Emily Eavis offered their ‘sincere apologies’ to the 135,000 who had paid deposits as they described the ‘terrible blow to our incredible crew and volunteers’.
It was announced in a statement on social media, which read: ‘This was not a course of action we hoped to take... but following the new Government measures announced this week – and in times of such unprecedented uncertainty – this is now our only viable option.
‘We very much hope that the situation in the UK will have improved enormously by the end of June. But even if it has, we are no longer able to spend the next three months with thousands of crew on the farm, helping us with the enormous job of building the infrastructure and attractions needed to welcome more than 200,000 people.’
They promised ticket holders that their £50 deposit will roll over to 2021 automatically, but that should they wish to cancel they will receive a full refund providing they claim it back before September.
Revellers were expected to descend on Worthy Farm, Somerset, from June 24 to 28, with the Eavises last week releasing the first line-up wave hours after Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave a press conference about the severity of the coronavirus outbreak.
Primal Scream, Manic Street Preachers, Pet Shop Boys and Fatboy Slim were among the names added to the bill.
But fans feared the festival had been cancelled after a screenshot of an Instagram story purporting to be from Mr Eavis’s granddaughter Hannah was shared online on Tuesday.
The image was of Stormzy’s headline set last year alongside the words: ‘So sad not to be going this year it’s for the best.’
Tom Kiehl, acting chief executive of UK Music, described the cancellation as a ‘bitter blow’.
‘Glastonbury is the flagship festival for our £5.2billion UK music industry,’ he said. ‘It’s cancellation... underlines the devastating impact the virus is having on the music industry.
‘It’s vital that the Government provides support for the many selfemployed musicians and all those workers who would otherwise have been involved in this wonderful event.’
Some are estimating the cancellation could result in a loss of £100million. The move could affect charities, particularly the main partners Water Aid, Oxfam and Greenpeace who received £2.35million from the festival in 2018, while more than £750,000 was split between smaller organisations.