Glastonbury Festival, the largest greenfield music festival in the world, has been cancelled for a second year running because of the COVID-19 pandemic, organisers said on Thursday.
“With great regret, we must announce that this year’s Glastonbury Festival will not take place, and that this will be another enforced fallow year for us,” founder Michael Eavis and his daughter Emily said in a statement on Twitter.
“In spite of our efforts to move Heaven & Earth, it has become clear that we simply will not be able to make the Festival happen this year. We are so sorry to let you all down.”
The festival was also cancelled last year because of the pandemic. More than 135,000 tickets had sold out in just 34 minutes for the event held on Eavis’s dairy farm in southwest England.
“As with last year, we would like to offer all those who secured a ticket in October 2019 the opportunity to roll their 50 pound deposit over to next year, and guarantee the chance to buy a ticket for Glastonbury 2022.”
The chair of the House of Commons culture commiitte Julian Knight MP said:
“The news that the UK has lost the Glastonbury Festival for a second year running is devastating.We have repeatedly called for Ministers to act to protect our world renowned festivals like this one with a Government-backed insurance scheme. Our plea fell on deaf ears and now the chickens have come home to roost.The jewel in the crown will be absent but surely the Government cannot ignore the message any longer – it must act now to save this vibrant and vital festivals sector.”
