Music News

It had to happen: 50th anniversary Glastonbury Festival will not go ahead.

A few weeks ago, the organizers of Glastonbury, the most famous music festival in the world, we optimistic that things would be able to go ahead as scheduled in June. They even announced the lineup for the 50th anniversary event.

Yeah, no. Having hundreds of thousands people crammed together in a muddy field for a few days is not a wise thing during a time of pandemic. It has been canceled.

Michael and Emily Eavis had this to say: “We are so sorry to announce this, but we are going to have to cancel Glastonbury 2020. Tickets for this year will roll over to next year. Full statement below and on our website. Michael & Emily.”

Here’s the full statement from Twitter.

Good move. Sad, but necessary.

This will no doubt be welcome news for the Chinese who couldn’t figure out why the UK insisted on allowing large-gathering concerts to go ahead. And they have a point. What were The Stereophonics thinking this past weekend by holding two big shows? Other music stars are calling out irresponsible actions.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

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One thought on “It had to happen: 50th anniversary Glastonbury Festival will not go ahead.

  • If anyone else was wondering, and because it’s been removed from the Glastonbury site, the announced (so far) line up had been:

    Kendrick Lamar
    Paul McCartney
    Taylor Swift
    Diana Ross
    Aitch
    AJ Tracey
    Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals
    Angel Olsen
    Anna Calvi
    The Avalanches
    Banks
    Baxter Dury
    Beabadoobee
    The Big Moon
    Big Thief
    Black Uhuru
    Blossoms
    Brittany Howard
    Burna Boy
    Cage The Elephant
    Camila Cabello
    Candi Staton
    Caribou
    Cate Le Bon
    Celeste
    Charli XCX
    Clairo
    Confidence Man
    Crowded House
    Danny Brown
    Declan McKenna
    Dizzee Rascal
    Dua Lipa
    EarthGang
    EOB
    Editors
    Elbow
    Fatboy Slim
    FKA twigs
    Fontaines D.C.
    Gilberto Gil & Family
    Glass Animals
    Goldfrapp
    Greentea Peng
    Groove Armada
    Haim
    Happy Mondays
    Herbie Hancock
    Imelda May
    The Isley Brothers
    JARV IS…
    Jehnny Beth
    The Jesus and Mary Chain
    Kacey Musgraves
    Kano
    Kelis
    Khruangbin
    KOKOKO!
    La Roux
    Lana Del Rey
    Laura Marling
    Lianne La Havas
    The Lightning Seeds
    London Grammar
    Mabel
    Manic Street Preachers
    Metronomy
    Nadine Shah
    Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
    Nubya Garcia
    The Orielles
    Pet Shop Boys
    Phoebe Bridgers
    Primal Scream
    Richard Dawson
    Robyn
    Rufus Wainwright
    Sam Fender
    Sampa The Great
    Seun Kuti
    Sinead O’Connor
    Skunk Anansie
    Snarky Puppy
    Soccer Mommy
    The Specials
    Squid
    The Staves
    Supergrass
    Suzanne Vega
    Thom Yorke Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes
    Thundercat
    Tinariwen
    TLC
    Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes
    Tones And I

    (I grabbed it from archive.org)

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