Glastonbury is likely to take a year off in 2026, says organiser Emily Eavis
Glastonbury returns to Worthy Farm from 26-30 June, with the likes of Dua Lipa, Coldplay, and SZA headlining, while Shania Twain, LCD Soundsystem, The National and Little Simz are also set to grace the UK’s largest music festival’s stages.
This year is marks a historic change for the festival, as it will be the first time in its history that two out of the three headline performers will be women. Plus, this year’s Pyramid Stage line-up has a 50:50 split between male and female acts. This comes after criticism of last year’s all-male, all-white headliners.
Regarded as a major event not just in British culture but on the European festival scene, the festival has been active since 1970 and has been going strong ever since.
However, co-organiser Emily Eavis, while sharing that she has “a vague idea” of who next year’s headliners might be, has said that the festival is likely to take a year off in 2026.
Speaking on he BBC’s Sidetracked podcast, Eavis confirmed that she was thinking of having a fallow year in two years time.
The last time this happened was in 2018 – with both the 2020 and 2021 festivals cancelled because of the pandemic.
“We are due a fallow year,” she said. “The fallow year is important because it gives the land a rest, and it gives the cows a chance to stay out for longer and reclaim their land.”
She added: “I think it gives everybody time to just switch off and the public as well. Then you kind of go away for a bit and it feels lovely when you come back. And I think it’s quite good not to be seen to be cashing in.”
Eavis, 44, also went on to share that the festival almost closed in the 1990s, with her father and founder Michael Eavis, now 88, planning to pull the plug when he reached retirement.
“My parents were always like, ‘This is the last one’. Everyone thought it was some sort of stunt to sell tickets but it wasn’t. They were genuinely like, ‘Well, we probably won’t do another.’”
Eavis’ wife Jean died in 1999.
“My dad was like, ‘Oh, I think I might need the festival now’,” added Emily Eavis.
Michael Eavis founded the festival on his Somerset farm, and saw it grow into music juggernaut it is today. He is still involved with the festival, but the majority of the organisation is handled by his daughter and her husband Nick Dewey.
Glastonbury takes place from 26-30 June. Stay tuned to Euronews Culture, who will be there on the ground with reviews, news and updates.
