Heartbreaking reason Glastonbury nearly ended in the late 90s

Metro

21-06-2025

Can you imagine a festival season without Glastonbury?
We're not referring to the occasional hiatus caused by the pandemic or the years that the festival took a break to give the farmland at Worthy Farm a much-needed rest from the 200,000 visitors it hosts annually.
But in 2025, we'll likely be facing the last Glastonbury until 2027.
Emily Eavis revealed last year that she and her father, Sir Michael Eavis, are seriously considering taking a break in 2026. While a two-year gap will be a long wait for die-hard festival fans, it's worth remembering that, in a different reality, we could be living in a world where Glastonbury ceased to exist at all.
Everything has a natural expiry date, and last year, Emily shared that Glastonbury nearly came to an end in the late '90s.
Yes, we were nearly deprived of Jay-Z covering Oasis, Dizzee Rascal's cameo during Florence and the Machine and all those glorious shots of celebs trudging through mud.
On the BBC's Sidetracked podcast, Emily opened up about the tough times that nearly led to the festival's closure. She revealed that her father, Sir Michael, originally planned to retire in the late '90s, and with it, bring an end to Glastonbury. Despite some critics thinking it was a publicity stunt to sell tickets, her parents were genuinely serious about calling it quits.
Sir Michael and his wife Jean had planned to retire and travel the world, and they envisioned that the start of the new Millennium, the year 2000, would herald the end of Glastonbury.
In fact, Sir Michael admitted that he thought he would never host another one. But after Jean's death in 1999, Sir Michael chose to continue with the festival. He later shared on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs that the festival had become his 'new partner' of sorts after his wife's passing.
'We had agreed to retire, but Jean never made it. So I became more determined to keep the festival going. I didn't have a partner, and of course, the kids were keen too! It felt like my new lady friend, in a way—the festival,' he said.
The very first Glastonbury festival was held on Saturday, September 19 at Sir Michael Eavis' dairy farm in Pilton, Somerset
It was originally named the Pilton Pop, Folk & Blues Festival and was renamed as Glastonbury Fayre just one year later. This subsequently evolved into the Glastonbury Festival we know and love today
1,500 festival goers attended the first festival and a ticket for the three-day event cost just £1. However, attendees also were treated to free milk from the Eavis dairy farm
Two major headliners pulled out of the first ever festival – Wayne Fontana and The Kinks, but a very worthy replacement helped Sir Michael pull it out of the bag in the shape of the glam rock band Tyrannosaurus Rex, who would later be known as T.Rex
Sir Michael originally set up the festival to make some money and clear some debt, but it wasn't the financial big hitter he had envisaged as he previously said: 'I don't know exactly what my loss will be, but not too great'
Sir Michael founded the festival in the early '70s on his Somerset farm, and over the decades, it's grown into one of the world's most prestigious music events. The first Glastonbury, held in 1970 and originally known as the Pilton Pop, Folk & Blues Festival, had tickets priced at just £1.
Attendees even got free milk from Sir Michael's own dairy. The inaugural festival featured T. Rex, Quintessence, Duster Bennett, Steamhammer, and a host of local bands.
Since then, Glastonbury has hosted world-class acts like Hawkwind, New Order, The Smiths, Peter Gabriel, The Cure, Oasis, Blur, The Prodigy, Radiohead, and so many others. It's no wonder every year the question on everyone's lips is, 'Who's headlining this year?'
The festival's rise in the '90s saw its status soar, thanks to massive acts like Oasis, Blur, and Radiohead. As Glastonbury grows, it continues to be a cultural milestone, defining an era of British music.
This year, Sir Michael will turn 90, and it's clear that the festival and the man behind it deserve a well-earned moment of rest. It's no surprise that with such a legacy, he might take a break too. His contribution to the UK music scene is immeasurable, and in 2024, he was knighted for his services to music and charity, after receiving a CBE in 2007.
As the visionary once said: 'We started with 500 people in 1970, and now millions want to come every year. That's quite extraordinary, isn't it?'
Extraordinary it is, and whether or not Glastonbury takes a break in 2026, it remains one of the world's most iconic festivals—cementing Britain's place on the global cultural map and raising millions for charity each year. More Trending
From its humble beginnings in 1970, Glastonbury has grown into a global phenomenon, with countless historic moments along the way.
Who could forget 'the year of the mud' in 1997, the infamous site flooding of 2005, Jay-Z's groundbreaking hip-hop headline in 2008, or the 2022 festival featuring both Billie Eilish, the youngest-ever solo headliner, and Sir Paul McCartney, the oldest?
Looking ahead, the 2025 festival is set to be a standout, featuring performances by rock legend Neil Young, pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo, Alanis Morissette, and a long-awaited return from Sir Rod Stewart, who'll headline 23 years after his last Glastonbury appearance.
For many, it will be an unforgettable send-off before the much-anticipated fallow year.
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