Glastonbury 2021 is officially cancelled because of Covid-19

'This will be another enforced fallow year for us,' say organisers

Glastonbury Festival 2021 has been officially cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, organisers announced on Thursday, January 21. Getty Images 

For the second year in a row, there will be no Glastonbury Festival this summer, as organisers have announced that the 2021 event will be cancelled.

"With great regret, we must announce that this year's Glastonbury festival will not take place, and that this will be another enforced fallow year for us," organisers Michael and Emily Eavis said.

“In spite of our efforts to move heaven and earth, it has become clear that we simply will not be able to make the festival happen this year. We are so sorry to let you all down.”

The 2020 event, which was due to be the 50th anniversary of the famed British festival, was cancelled in March 2020, three months before it was scheduled to take place with Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and Diana Ross set to headline.

The event had not officially been rescheduled for this summer, but in August last year, Emily Eavis said: "For those who have been asking, we have no plans to move next year's Glastonbury to September 2021 – we're still very much aiming for June."

In December, the organisers called on the UK government for financial support to help save the 2021 festival.

"In a usual planning cycle we would already be well into organising the next festival," Emily, 41, told The Sunday Times at the time.

“The best solution would be for the government to offer … direct financial support in the event of Glastonbury, and other events, being forced to cancel once they’re well into the preparations.”

Glastonbury Festival, which first took place on Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, England in 1970, is one of the world’s largest and most prestigious festivals, with 200,000 revellers attending each year. Acts such as The Rolling Stones, Adele, Beyonce and David Bowie have headlined the legendary Pyramid Stage in the past.

A message from the Eavises on the festival's website currently reads: "We are very confident we can deliver something really special for us all in 2022!"