Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis said he is “moving heaven and earth” to make the event go ahead in 2021, despite expressing doubts about it running next year.
Eavis said 2022 could be the year the festival returns due to current concerns around ensuring social distancing at the 250,000-capacity event.
The 2020 edition of the festival, which was set to be the event’s 50th anniversary, was cancelled in mid-March due to COVID-19, with Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar having been due to headline.
Eavis told ITV New West Country: “500 people is ok isn’t it. But my job, 250,000 altogether is too many people I suppose isn’t it really.
“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.”
Eavis assured fans he is not concerned about the future of the festival, adding: “No, I do not worry at all. I am so confident that it will survive. 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. You can’t kill it off just like that. It will come back. It will come back, probably stronger actually.”
In June, Eavis said he was considering using an app-based testing scheme for the 2021 event that will allow ticketholders on site after they have been shown to be COVID-free.
Eavis said he looked into several options to ensure the festival goes ahead next year, and an NHS-linked tracing app would be a possibility via a partnership with Melvin Benn, the managing director of Festival Republic.
Benn outlined a blueprint for UK festivals to incorporate COVID-19 testing in 2021 to avoid social distancing rules that would make them “impossible” to operate.
Eavis had warned that the event could be in serious financial trouble if the 2021 edition does not go ahead.
He said: “We have to run next year, otherwise we would seriously go bankrupt … It has to happen for us, we have to carry on. Otherwise it will be curtains. I don’t think we could wait another year.”
Malta
Malta, which had looked forward to being one of the few European countries with a summer of festivals, has seen the cancellation of four major events due to a spike of COVID-19 cases.
After recommendations from the Maltese Tourism Authority, Escape 2 The Island, Rhythm + Waves, BPM Festival: Malta and Mi Casa Festival have all been called off.
All customers will receive a full face-value refund on their festival tickets, automatically refunded within the next 30 working days.
Statements from the individual festival organisers expressed their “disappointment” in cancelling the festivals, but said they could not “take place in a safe manner.”
The festival line-ups included the likes of Chase and Status, Aitch, AJ Tracey and Fatboy Slim.
Image: jaswooduk / CC BY 2.0 / Edited for size
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