Glastonbury cancelled

18 March 2020

Glastonbury has been cancelled.

Headliner Sir Paul McCartney

The iconic music festival - which was due to celebrate its 50th anniversary this year - will take an "enforced fallow year" due to the coronavirus pandemic, organisers Michael and Emily Eavis have confirmed.

They said in a 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 new government measures announced this week - and in times of unprecedented uncertainty - this is now our only viable option."

The event doesn't take place until 24-28 June but even if the situation has "improved" by then, the organisers admitted it would be impossible to get the site at Worthy Farm in Somerset ready in time because of current government advice.

They advised: "We very much hope that the situation in the UK will have improved by the end of June. But even if it has, we are no longer able to spend the next three months here with the thousands of crew here on the farm, helping us with the enormous job of building the infrastructure and attractions to welcome more than 200,000 people to a temporary city in these fields...

"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 looking forward to welcoming you 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 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."

People who have already paid a deposit for their tickets for the festival - which was due to be headlined by Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and Sir Paul McCartney - will be given a choice to have a refund or use the money to secure a guaranteed ticket for next year's festival.