Men refused to deal with me, says Glastonbury organiser

THE organiser of the Glastonbury Festival has claimed that some music bosses refused to deal with her instead of her father.

Emily Eavis said that she had faced hostility in a “male-dominated” industry surrounding the music festival, which she first helped her father, Michael, organise in 1999.

Ms Eavis, 40, said “the gender balance should be right” as she pushes for an even split between male and female performers.

She told Desert Island Discs, on BBC Radio 4: “The live music world obviously has been so male dominated so I would go to meetings with tables of men.

“Some were great, and some just refuse to accept that they had to deal with me. I think it’s quite hard to go from dealing with my dad and then to suddenly have to be dealing with me. Now its really good and we have found a way to make it work.

“I feel I should do this and follow my instinct, it has its challenges. It doesn’t help when you’re the daughter as well.

“We are working toward 50:50 [male/female line-up], some years it’s 60:40. It’s a challenge for us and we’ve really taken it on and I’m always totally conscious everyday that the gender balance should be right. We’re getting there.”

Ms Eavis has previously spoken of an “old guard” behind the booking of artists for the five day event in Somerset.

Kylie Minogue is one of the big female stars to take to the stage next at the festival next week, alongside Janet Jackson and Miley Cyrus.

The full interview with Ms Eavis is available on BBC Sounds and will air on BBC Radio 4 today at 11:15am.