“We are so sorry to announce this.”
The live music business has taken a hammering from the outbreak of the Coronavirus this year and one of the world’s largest and longest-running music festivals has become the latest to announce the cancellation of its 2020 edition.
The UK’s iconic Glastonbury Festival is officially not going ahead this year.
Set to take place in late June in Somerset, UK and featuring headline performances from Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift and Paul McCartney, organisers Michael and Emily Eavis issued a statement a few minutes ago announcing the news.
“This was not a course of action we hoped to take for our 50th anniversary event, but following the new government measures announced this week – and in times of such unprecedented uncertainty – this is now our only viable option,” they said.
“There will also inevitably be severe financial implications as a result of this cancellation – not just for us, but also the Festival’s charity partners, suppliers, traders, local landowners and our community.”
Michael & Emily Eavis
They also said that 2020 “will be an enforced fallow year for the Festival,” and that the 135,000 people who have already paid deposits are guaranteed the opportunity to buy a ticket for Glastonbury 2021.
“The cancellation of this year’s Festival will no doubt come as a terrible blow to our incredible crew and volunteers who work so hard to make this event happen,” they added.
“There will also inevitably be severe financial implications as a result of this cancellation – not just for us, but also the Festival’s charity partners, suppliers, traders, local landowners and our community.”
The event’s cancelation follows a string of high profile cancellations due to the outbreak of the virus, including this year’s South by Southwest in Austin and Miami’s Ultra Music Festival, as well as Goldenvoice’s postponement of Coachella and Stage Coach until October.
Last week, Live Nation, AEG, CAA, WME, Paradigm and UTA issued a joint statement suggesting that all major events in the US, and countries deemed level 3 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), should be postponed through the end of March due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
You can read the statement in full below:
GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL STATEMENT
We are so sorry to announce this, but Glastonbury 2020 will have to be cancelled, and this will be an enforced fallow year for the Festival.
Clearly this was not a course of action we hoped to take for our 50th anniversary event, but following the new government measures announced this week – and in times of such unprecedented uncertainty – this is now our only viable option.
We very much hope that the situation in the UK will have improved enormously by the end of June. But even if it has, we are no longer able to spend the next three months with thousands of crew here on the farm, helping us with the enormous job of building the infrastructure and attractions needed to welcome more than 200,000 people to a temporary city in these fields.
We would like to send our sincere apologies to the 135,000 people who have already paid a deposit for a Glastonbury 2020 ticket. The balance payments on those tickets were due at the beginning of April and we wanted to make a firm decision before then.
“The cancellation of this year’s Festival will no doubt come as a terrible blow to our incredible crew and volunteers who work so hard to make this event happen. There will also inevitably be severe financial implications as a result of this cancellation – not just for us, but also the Festival’s charity partners, suppliers, traders, local landowners and our community.”
We understand that it is not always easy to secure a Glastonbury ticket, which is why we would like to offer all those people the chance to roll their £50 deposit over to next year, and guarantee the opportunity to buy a ticket for Glastonbury 2021. Those who would prefer a refund of that £50 will be able to contact See Tickets in the coming days in order to secure that. This option will remain available until September this year. For those who are happy to roll their deposit over, that will happen automatically. Further information – including details on rolling over coach packages, official accommodation bookings and local Sunday tickets – will be added to our website in the coming days.
The cancellation of this year’s Festival will no doubt come as a terrible blow to our incredible crew and volunteers who work so hard to make this event happen. There will also inevitably be severe financial implications as a result of this cancellation – not just for us, but also the Festival’s charity partners, suppliers, traders, local landowners and our community.
We were so looking forward to welcoming you all for our 50th anniversary with a line-up full of fantastic artists and performers that we were incredibly proud to have booked. Again, we’re so sorry to that this decision has been made. It was not through choice. But we look forward to welcoming you back to these fields next year and until then, we send our love and support to all of you.
Michael & EmilyMusic Business Worldwide
