Organisers of the cancelled Glastonbury Festival have offered music fans a possible ray of hope that a celebration might still happen later this year.
Festival founder Michael Eavis has teased a “smaller” event could yet be held in September – which would coincide with the actual date of the original festival of the 1970s.
Music fans were dismayed this week when the 2021 festival – which had been due to take place between June 23-27 – was officially cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
This followed the cancellation of the 2020 event – which was supposed to be headlined by rap superstar Kendrick Lamar, music legend Sir Paul McCartney, and pop icon Taylor Swift.
But following the announcement of the 2021 Glastonbury Festival cancellation on Thursday, 85-year-old Michael has raised the hope of a stripped back festival later in the year.
He told LBC: “I would like to do something in September.
“I would like to do something smaller somewhere around the anniversary date of when we started, which was the 18th of September 1970.”
He continued: “I would like to consider possibly doing something around that time.”
And when asked if big name stars would be attached to such a September event, Michael replied: “Yes, but I do need to get reassurance from the ethics people.”
Traditionally there is a smaller celebration every September at the Glastonbury site called Pilton Party – a concert held to thank workers and locals for their help organising the main festival.
On Thursday, Michael and his daughter and co-organiser Emily Eavis were crushed to announce Glasto 2021 would not be happening.
The pair said in a statement: “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.
“As with last year, we would like to offer all those who secured a ticket in October 2019 the opportunity to roll their £50 deposit over to next year, and guarantee the chance to buy a ticket for Glastonbury 2022.
“We are very appreciative of the faith and trust placed in us by those of you with deposits, and we are very confident we can deliver something really special for us all in 2022!”
