Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis
Michael Eavis, Glastonbury creator, has unveiled that he has already decided who he wants to headline the festival in 2013.
Eavis was honoured with a lifetime achievment award at the European Festival Awards held at the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival in Groningen, Holland. Speaking at the event he said: "I was so pleased to be so well received by these people and seen to be some source of inspiration or guidance."
Eavis has no plans for the Glastonbury festival to cease. It began in 1970, and he has said he is looking forward to celebrating the 50th anniversary in 2020. Eavis, now 76, said: "I've got the bands who want to play and the people who want to buy the tickets so why shouldn't we carry on?" Adding "I'm really determined somehow or other to make the 50 years... Strangely enough, I do feel incredibly fit. I don't see why I shouldn't make it."
Last year headliners included Coldplay, Beyonce, and U2, and in previous years the festival has seen the likes of T Rex, Blur, The Smiths, David Bowie, Rolf Harris, The Killers, Radiohead and the Kings of Leon. It is one of Britains biggest festivals, but is now getting a lot of competition from others nationwide, such as Reading and Leeds, and V Festival.
Eavis spoke out last summer about how he didn't see much of a future left for Glastonbury sue to the rising costs and competition. Now he has said he wants to make it to the 50th anniversary though, it seems like there is hope for it yet.
Eavis is first and foremost a famer and Worthy Farm, for the 11 months that the festival isn't present in the Somerset fields, is in fact home to cows and sheep. This is why Eavis often takes a year off from the festival, like this year, so that the land can recover from the millions of people flocking to it every other summer.
It just so happens that this year would have clashed with the Olympics too, so Eavis admitted there would have been problems caused by the lack of portaloos and police at the festival.