Glastonbury Festival likely to take a year off in 2026

Emily Eavis has confirmed that the Glastonbury Festival will likely take a year off in 2026. The beloved festival will return in 2024 from June 26 to 30, with Dua Lipa, Coldplay, and SZA set to headline.

Emily spoke to BBC's Sidetracked podcast, hosted by Annie Macmanus and Nick Grimshaw, and shared she was thinking of having a fallow year for the festival in two years' time. She explained this is to allow the land at Worthy Farm to rest and recover.

She said: "We are due a fallow year. The fallow year is important because it gives the land a rest, and it gives the cows a chance to stay out for longer and reclaim their land.

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"I think it’s important, I think it gives everybody time to just switch off and the public as well.

"Then you kind of go away for a bit and it feels lovely when you come back. And I think it’s quite good not to be seen to be cashing in."

The festival doesn't always go ahead every year because every few years, around five, organisers Michael Eavis and daughter Emily decide to have a 'fallow year' on Worthy Farm. Due to the large amount of visitors the 900-acre site sees across the five-day event, a fallow year allows the land to rest and prevents long-lasting damage.

The short hiatus also allows the locals some time to rest, including the hard-working team behind the festival and allows the hundreds of diary cows on the working farm a chance to graze the fields.

In 2018, a fallow year took place after five consecutive years and the iconic event then returned in 2019. It had hoped to run again in 2020, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic and UK restrictions which also continued into 2021, Worthy Farm experienced two fallow years.

Other confirmed acts include Shania Twain, LCD Soundsystem, Little Simz, The National, Avril Lavigne, The Last Dinner Party, Jungle, Justice, Bloc Party, Fontaines D.C., Yard Act, Arlo Parks and Gossip. You can watch the festival on BBC and its dedicated channels on iPlayer.

You can listen to the full podcast on BBC Sounds through this link.