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.
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 pic.twitter.com/ox8kcQ0HoB
— Glastonbury Festival (@glastonbury) March 18, 2020
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.
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)