Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis has said he cannot guarantee whether it will go ahead next year after being forced to cancel this summer’s event due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Eavis said he would “be moving heaven and Earth” to make it happen but it could be “wishful thinking”, and the only “certainty” for Glastonbury is 2022.
Headliners Sir Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar, plus hundreds of other acts, were due to play at this year’s 50th anniversary celebrations in June before the festival was called off due to COVID-19.
Taylor Swift and Sir Paul McCartney (below) were set to headline this year’s event
Tickets have been rolled over to the next event, which fans assumed would be in 2021, but Eavis says he is not sure due to the size of the festival and the uncertainty still surrounding COVID-19 and social distancing.
Speaking to ITV News West Country, he said: “500 people is okay, isn’t it. But my job, 250,000 altogether, is too many people I suppose…
“I’m still hoping I’m going to be running next year and I’m going to be moving heaven and earth to make sure that we do.
“But that doesn’t mean it will necessarily happen. That is just wishful thinking, really.”
Asked if he was worried about the future of the festival, he said he is confident, but fans may have to be patient.
“No I do not worry at all, I am so confident that it will survive,” he said.
“The only certainty I think is the year after, 2022. To be perfectly candid… so we might have to wait for two years, maybe. But I am still hoping and we are fighting and working at it all the time to make sure it happens next year.”
Michael Eavis founded the festival, which is now run by his daughter, Emily
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Eavis also remained positive about the future of the music industry in general, saying it would come back stronger.
“You can’t kill it off just like that,” he said.
“It will come back. It will come back, probably stronger actually.”