Coronavirus pandemic: Glastonbury 2020 canceled, organizers allow fans to roll over tickets to next year
Barely a week after confirming that Kendrick Lamar would be the Friday night headliner for the 50th edition of the Glastonbury Music Festival, the biggest event in the UK music calendar has now been canceled, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Even though the entertainment extravaganza had been slated for June 24-28, it would still entail thousands of people working together on the Worthy Farm in the months leading up to the festival, something that was no longer feasible in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The longtime organizers of the Glastonbury Festival, the Eavis family, released a statement in which they conveyed their apologies to the ticket holders and promised that they would be back next year, since 2020 was now an enforced fallow year.
It's a pity too, considering the organizers wanted to make the 50th anniversary of Glastonbury a special one to remember. Sir Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar were the main headliners for this year, with Diana Ross due to headline the Sunday Legend's slot. Other star attractions would have included the Pet Shop Boys, Camila Cabello, Lana Del Rey, Dua Lipa, DJ Fatboy Slim and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds amongst many other musical icons on the storied setlist.
"Clearly this was not a course of action we hoped to take for our 50th-anniversary event, but following the new government measures announced this week – and in times of such unprecedented uncertainty – this is now our only viable option," read a statement from the organizers Micheal Eavis and his daughter Emily Eavis. "We would like to send our sincere apologies to the 135,000 people who have already paid a deposit for a Glastonbury 2020 ticket. The balance payments on those tickets were due at the beginning of April and we wanted to make a firm decision before then."
The Eavis family also made it clear that the people who had worked hard to secure a ticket for this year's festival could still retain their ticket for next year. Glastonbury 2020 notoriously sold out in less than half an hour after general tickets were made available. "We understand that it is not always easy to secure a Glastonbury ticket, which is why we would like to offer all those people the chance to roll their £50 deposit over to next year and guarantee the opportunity to buy a ticket for Glastonbury 2021. Those who would prefer a refund of that £50 will be able to contact See Tickets in the coming days in order to secure that," read the official statement.
The Eavis family also signed off on an optimistic note, saying, "Again, we’re so sorry that 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." Let's hope we get to see the beloved annual music festival making a historic comeback at the Worthy Farm next year.