Festival site could stage gig this year
TENS of thousands of music fans could enjoy performances on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival site this year as plans have been submitted for a potential two-day concert at Worthy Farm.
Organisers at Glastonbury Festival hope to stage an event at Pilton later this year despite the cancellation of the June festival due to the coronavirus pandemic.
New details submitted to Mendip District Council reveal the potential concert would use only the main Pyramid Stage field, pictured, and would have a maximum capacity of 49,999 people, with four car parks close to the main concert arena. It would be substantially smaller than a typical Glastonbury Festival, which attracts more than 200,000 people, and would also not feature any overnight camping.
Licensing documents submitted by the festival say “any relevant ‘Covid-secure’ measures will be put in place in accordance with all government legislation and guidance”.
Organiser Emily Eavis has previously said the festival hoped to stage the event in September, but a date has not been revealed.
A Mendip District Council licensing sub-committee will meet on Wednesday at 2pm to consider the application. The meeting was called after representations were made by council staff and local residents about potential issues such as traffic, public nuisance, noise levels and Covid risks.
The government’s roadmap out of coronavirus lockdown in England provisionally permits the return of festivals and large-scale events from June 21, 2021.
Local resident Nicholas Hall, who is among those to write to the council about the proposals, says he believes the licence should be limited to one event in 2021 to allow the new format to be reviewed or altered if necessary. He has also asked that the fence used for the perimeter of the main festival be used for this new concert.
Writing about the application on Instagram in March, festival organiser Emily Eavis said: “We have put in an application for a licence for a concert at the farm in September (around the time we’d usually do Pilton Party). Of course, we’ve got no idea whether we will be able to do that, but we wanted to get the application in to be in with a chance.”