Glastonbury confirms next fallow year

Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis has praised this year’s edition as “special”, while confirming that 2026 will be a fallow year for the 140,000-cap festival.

Held from 26-30 June at Worthy Farm, Pilton, Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA were this year’s Pyramid Stage headliners, with Shania Twain taking the traditional Sunday “legend slot”.

Other acts included Avril Lavigne, LCD Soundsystem, PJ Harvey, Little Simz, Burna Boy, Janelle Monáe, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Kiwanuka, Camila Cabello, Seventeen, Paul Heaton, Keane, Seasick Steve, Disclosure, The National, Paloma Faith, Justice and Olivia Dean.

“I really would like to say thank you to everyone who’s made this year so special,” Eavis told the Glastonbury Free Press. “It’s got to be the best one yet. Every single one of our vast, incredible crew is crucial to making this event work. And, of course, it simply wouldn’t exist without the participation of the kind, brilliant, respectful festival-goers. I think people here show a better way to live, and that they do take a little bit of that back to the outside world with them. It honestly restores your faith in humanity.”

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s finale, she added: “I absolutely loved Dua’s set. She’s a Glastonbury-goer through and through, so she really gets it. You can bring anybody to the stage, but you can’t make them understand where they’re playing and what it means to people. So to have headliners like Dua and Coldplay – who both have such a personal connection to the event – makes all the difference.”

Coldplay won near universal acclaim for their record fifth Pyramid Stage headline performance, which saw them joined by special guests Little Simz, Femi Kuti, Victoria Canal, Laura Mvula and actor Michael J Fox. Dua Lipa’s turn was also widely praised, but SZA received a mixed response, with her set attracting a relatively sparse crowd.

“A fallow year is always a fun one to plan, because you almost have to fit two years into one”

Also on the bill were the likes of The Streets, Sugababes, Anne-Marie, Confidence Man, Jungle, Idles, D-Block Europe, Two Door Cinema Club, James, Bloc Party, Ayra Starr and – as a surprise act on the Woodsies stage – Kasabian.

The weather remained dry throughout, but certain programming decisions – including booking Avril Lavigne and the Sugababes on the smaller Other Stage and West Holts, respectively – attracted criticism after both acts attracted massive crowds. The BBC estimated Lavigne’s crowd as around 70,000 and said fans were “packed together like sardines in a crushed tin can”. There were also complaints of sound issues during some sets.

Meanwhile, Eavis has confirmed that next year’s festival will be its last until 2027, with the gathering set to take 2026 off. The event has a history of taking fallow years to allow the ground at Worthy Farm to recover, most recently taking a break in 2018, although the 2020 and 2021 festivals were cancelled due to the pandemic.

“We’re taking a fallow year in 2026 to give the land a rest, and the festival before a fallow year is always a fun one to plan, because you almost have to fit two years into one,” added Eavis. “We’re already in talks with some acts for it. It’s exciting!”

And asked what she hoped the 2024 festival stood for, Eavis responded by saying “peace”.

“This is a peace festival,” she said. “It always has been. And I think, more than ever, we need to be reminded that peace is an option.”

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