Glastonbury farm will outlive festival, says founder
LONDON — Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis says the hugely-successful festival “could go in a wink” and his dairy farm, which is the venue for the festival, will outlast the event. The 79-year-old, who set up the festival on his Somerset farm in 1970, has brought some of the world’s biggest acts to the West Country including Beyonce, U2, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen.
Beyonce went down to the farm in 2011. Photo: Reuters
LONDON — Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis says the hugely-successful festival “could go in a wink” and his dairy farm, which is the venue for the festival, will outlast the event. The 79-year-old, who set up the festival on his Somerset farm in 1970, has brought some of the world’s biggest acts to the West Country including Beyonce, U2, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen.
But in a new BBC iPlayer film, he revealed his proudest achievement had nothing to do with the festival. It was, in fact, the moment he won the gold cup for best herd from the Royal Association Of British Dairy Farmers.
He said: “The festival could come and go, it could go in a wink, it is very open to fashion. Two hundred thousand people might decide at some point it is not fashionable any more, but the farm and the cows and the tradition of the dairy, it is lasting. It is there forever, really. This farm is what I am made of.” He added: “There is nothing better to me than to win this award. I never thought we’d actually win it. I’ll tell you what though: We’re going to win it again. The farm always comes first, the festival comes second. The rock ‘n‘ roll and the glamour of all that stuff, you know, it is not really in the same league.”
His interview comes as it was announced Florence + The Machine will headline the Friday night slot at Glastonbury after the Foo Fighters were forced to pull out because of frontman Dave Grohl’s broken leg. Emily Eavis, the daughter of the festival founder, expressed her delight on Twitter: “So happy Florence is going to step up to headline Friday night, she’s going to smash it!”
Grohl apologised to fans after his accident forced the band to cancel a string of gigs including Glastonbury and Wembley. He injured himself after falling off stage during a concert in Sweden last week. As well as their appearance on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage, the veteran rock band has also scrapped gigs in Scotland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland. THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
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