Glastonbury is one of the world’s most famous music festivals.
After the usual large-scale Glastonbury event was unable to go ahead, they had been looking to run a smaller two-day event in September called Equinox.
It was announced this week by lead organiser Emily Eavis, that Equinox will no longer be going ahead in 2021. This announcement came as a bit of a shock after everything seemed in place for the event to go ahead, and that there had been many hoping to attend in lieu of their usual event.
The main event was postponed for a second year running in 2021, as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. One of the reasons was a lack of government backed insurance for festivals and other large-scale events, which could be forced to cancel last minute if there is a sudden outbreak of COVID-19 in the UK.
No exact details have been publicly shared as to the cause of this latest cancellation, with the organisers simply saying there are multiple contributing factors behind the decision. Instead, the festival’s site of Worthy Farm will continue to run as Worthy Pastures, which is a family and friends campsite without late-night partying or loud music.
In her statement about the cancellation, Eavis said “We’ve decided not to go ahead with the September gig idea for a number of reasons, so we’re putting all of our energy into the campsite for now!”.
This is another sign of ongoing problems within the events sector in the UK as a result of COVID-19. This week, Craig Richards and Gottwood’s electronic music event Haughton Festival also announced they were cancelling their 2021 edition.
Some of the suspected factors in both cancellations are issues with the UK’s track and trace system which could enforce self-isolation upon staff and performing artists, there is also a lack of clarity on some government guidelines that are ever-changing and hard to predict. Lack of government backed insurance for last-minute cancellation is also a suspected issue, and a cause for concern with COVID-19 cased in the UK still rising daily.
H/T: DJ Mag
