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Glastonbury Festival is “quite a long way” from being able to confirm that its 2021 edition will go ahead, organiser Emily Eavis has said.
Glastonbury 2020 was cancelled back in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the event’s lawyer Ben Challis said recently that plans are moving ahead for the festival’s 50th anniversary event to be staged in June 2021.
“We’re doing everything we can on our end to plan and prepare,” Eavis told the BBC, adding: “I think we’re still quite a long way from being able to say we’re confident 2021 will go ahead.
“I can’t tell you how much we’d love to welcome everyone back to the farm,” Eavis added. “It’s been way too quiet here this year and we want to get people back here as soon as we possibly can.
“Obviously the vaccine news in recent weeks has increased our chances, but I think we’re still quite a long way from being able to say we’re confident 2021 will go ahead.”
Eavis added: “We’re doing everything we can on our end to plan and prepare, but there are still just so many unknowns and factors which are completely out of our control.
“What we definitely can’t afford to risk is getting too far into the process of next year, only for it to be snatched away from us again. We lost millions this year, and we can’t risk that happening again.”
Michael Eavis spoke recently about the possibility that “massive testing arrangements” could be put in place at next year’s event. “The testing is going so well now, there could be massive testing arrangements,” he said.
Earlier this month, Emily appealed to the government to provide “direct financial support” for the planned 2021 Glastonbury due to the continued uncertainty surrounding live events in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite their repeated statements of hope that the festival will go ahead, Emily and Michael have said it’s “already getting tight” to prepare for next year’s event because insurers are still cautious about offering cancellation cover – potentially putting millions of pounds in revenue at stake, which the organisers say they cannot afford to lose.
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