Glastonbury 2020 cancelled due to coronavirus

Glastonbury 2020 is officially cancelled. 

Along with most events and festivals that were set to take place over the coming few months, the legendary Somerset festival has made the tough decision to cancel this year’s edition, sharing in a statement that it will be an “enforced fallow year for the Festival”. Anyone who had paid the £50 deposit will be allowed to use that same deposit in 2021, which will guarantee them "the opportunity to buy a ticket for Glastonbury 2021". Refunds will also be available.

The festival’s statement reads: “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.

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

Read the full statement below.

We are so sorry to announce this, but we are going to have to cancel Glastonbury 2020. Tickets for this year will roll over to next year. Full statement below and on our website. Michael & Emily pic.twitter.com/ox8kcQ0HoB

— Glastonbury Festival (@glastonbury) 18 March 2020

Last week, Glastobury's Emily Eavis shared a statement along with a wave of acts that were confirmed for the 2020 line-up. Announcing names such as AJ Tracey, The Avalanches, Caribou, FKA Twigs, and many, many more, Eavis wrote: "As things stand we are still working hard to deliver our 50th anniversary Festival in June and we are very proud of the bill that we have put together over the last year or so. No one has a crystal ball to see exactly where we will all be 15 weeks from now, but we are keeping our fingers firmly crossed that it will be here at Worthy Farm for the greatest show on Earth!⁣”   - Unfortunately, given the development of the COVID-19 pandemic, Glastonbury has joined the countless events across the UK, Europe and beyond in cancelling for health and safety reasons. 

Go here to follow our updates about the latest on coronavirus' impact on the electronic music scene.

Earlier this week, it was announced that £330bn is to be made available to support UK businesses affected by the global coronavirus outbreak. However, a petition has been launched urging the UK government to officially close venues during the COVID-19 outbreak so that fair insurance measures can be implemented in the aftermath.