Glastonbury Festival’s long-term future at Worthy Farm has been secured after it was granted permanent planning permission by the local council.

Since 2010, Glastonbury Festival Events Ltd. (GFEL) has had rolling temporary planning permission to hold the festival and other events at Worthy Farm in Pilton, which is due to expire in 2024.

Mendip District Council advised GFEL back in 2021 that a further extension to this temporary permission would not be allowed, since it was “contrary to best planning practice” as laid out by central government.

GFEL applied for the festival and other events, such as the annual Pilton Party, to have permanent planning permission, which would “provide more certainty and additional flexibility” in the years to come.

The plans were approved by the council’s planning board last Wednesday night (29 March), allowing Glastonbury Festival to be permanently hosted on Worthy Farm once a year, the hosting of the annual Pilton Party, camping events which can take place during festival fallow years, and agricultural use of the site outside of the festival period.

“The grant of planning permission will secure the future of the most iconic music and performing arts festival in Europe”

The permission also allows the festival’s iconic Pyramid Stage to be made into a permanent structure, alongside a building currently used for storage and recycling, and the allocation of land to accommodate the temporary festival workforce.

Nonetheless, the festival will still have to comply with the terms of its official licence, which sets limits on noise levels, crowd capacity and other matters.

A spokesman for Planning Sphere (representing GFEL) said: “The grant of planning permission will provide certainty and secure the future of the largest and most iconic music and performing arts festival in Europe.” The board approved the application by a margin of 11 votes to none, with one abstention.

This year’s Glastonbury is scheduled for 21-25 June. Elton John, Guns N’Roses and Arctic Monkeys will all be headlining the Pyramid Stage, while other acts on the line-up include Lana Del Rey, Lizzo, The War On Drugs, Chvrches, Lil Nas X, Christine And The Queens and Manic Street Preachers. Meanwhile, Yusuf/Cat Stevens has been booked for the coveted Legends Slot.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Sir Elton John has been confirmed as the first headliner of Glastonbury 2023, for what will be the last UK date of his farewell tour.

The legendary musician will top the bill on the Pyramid Stage on Sunday 25 June 2023, it was announced this morning (2 December).

“There is no more fitting way to say goodbye to my British fans,” says John in a statement announcing the show. “I can’t wait to embrace the spirit of the greatest festival in the world. It’s going to be incredibly emotional.”

Festival organiser Emily Eavis comments: “It gives me enormous pleasure to let you know that the one and only Elton John will be making his first-ever Glastonbury appearance, headlining the Pyramid Stage on the Sunday night next year.

“This will be the final UK show of Elton’s last-ever tour, so we will be closing the festival and marking this huge moment in both of our histories with the mother of all send-offs.”

The star teased the announcement yesterday (1 December), posting an Instagram photo captioned: “One final date to announce… the Rocket Man is incoming.”

“I can’t wait to embrace the spirit of the greatest festival in the world. It’s going to be incredibly emotional”

Around the same time, the BBC’s Glastonbury webcam featured an image of a rocket ship in the sky above the Pyramid stage.

Sir Elton’s Glastonbury performance will come at the end of the UK leg of his 350-date Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which kicks off in Liverpool next March.

After Glastonbury, the 75-year-old only has seven dates left to play in Europe before he retires from touring.

The star recently wrapped up the US leg of the tour with a three-night stand at LA’s Dodger Stadium – where, in 1975, he cemented his icon status with two historic gigs, bedecked in a sequinned Dodgers Baseball uniform. There, he was joined by Brandi Carlile, Kiki Dee and Dua Lipa.

The Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour had been due to run from September 2018 to 2021, encompassing five continents and over 350 dates but it was disrupted by the pandemic and John’s hip problems. The tour already topped Pollstar’s Top 100 Worldwide Tours chart for 2019 by the time the world paused and is poised to again be a contender in 2022.

While box office reports are still coming in, Pollstar reported in late November that more than 3.6 million tickets were sold for 164 of his shows, grossing more than $511 million.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Glastonbury could welcome up to 50,000 fans this summer for a two-day concert at Worthy Farm.

Organiser Emily Eavis revealed in March that the festival had applied for a license to stage live music and sell alcohol between 2 pm and 11 pm at a ‘single event’ across a Friday and Saturday in September.

New details submitted to Mendip District Council reveal the potential concert would utilise only the main Pyramid Stage field at Worthy Farm and the event would have a maximum capacity of 49,999 people, with four separate car parks close to the main concert arena, according to Somerset Live.

The proposed event would be substantially smaller than a typical Glastonbury Festival, which welcomes more than 200,000 people to Pilton, and would also not feature any overnight camping facilities for attendees.

The potential concert would utilise only the main Pyramid Stage field at Worthy Farm

Mendip Council is set to meet this week (May 12) to discuss the application. IQ has asked Glastonbury to comment.

Since the coronavirus pandemic forced the festival’s cancellation for a second consecutive year, the organisers have revealed a number of alternative plans including a family-friendly campsite dubbed Worthy Pastures and a global ticketed live stream, Live at Worthy Farm.

Live at Worthy Farm will see Coldplay, Damon Albarn, Haim, Idles, Jorja Smith, Kano, Michael Kiwanuka, Wolf Alice, DJ Honey Dijon and more perform across the site’s landmarks on 22 May 2021.

The online event will be broadcast in full across four separate time zones, with staggered livestreams. Tickets are on sale now at worthyfarm.live for £20/€23/US$27.50/A$35.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.