Amongst the news of cancelled events comes a ray of sunshine, Glastonbury has announced that they will hold a special event this year in September as a replacement to the legendary five-day event.
An announcement was made in January stating that the festival would not be going ahead this summer due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But the festival organisers, father-daughter duo, Michael and Emily Eavis have now obtained a license to put on a later event, Eavis had revealed to NME that the September event will be called ‘Equinox’. The September event will be held at the festival’s iconic location, Somerset’s Worthy Farm.
Organiser Emily Eavis has spoken to NME providing further news for music fans concerning the event, stating that it will be “a large[r] version of the Pilton Party”
The Pilton Party is a ‘thank you’ gig held each year for those involved within the festival, this includes the workers and the area’s residents.
Eavis continued to discuss the event. “We do that every September, but it will just be bigger and the public can come down, We’ll call it Equinox if we do it. We’ve got a licence hearing and we’re working with the authorities to see what we can do, but it’s just one step at a time, really.”
The license has been obtained from Mendip District Council, the organisation in charge of such approvals after ensuring that proper consultations and reports have been made with local authorities and the area’s residents. The committee met on 12th May in order to converse over the application and approved the proposal.
The license comes with over 50 conditions in which must be followed and abided by, the agreement encompasses many rules involving live music. One of which involves the famed Pyramid Stage, any live music must be staged on the specific stage. Although attendees will not be able to camp overnight, the license does allow for up to 50,000 lucky ticket holders entry. The application was for a two-day event, but due to the current COVID restrictions certain aspects of the event are yet to be fully confirmed and at this time the event may just be one day long.
The chair of licensing at Mendip District Council, Councillor Sam Phripp, has provided an explanation to the Somerset County Gazette concerning the licensing process as well as discussing the measures in which COVID still entails.
“Whenever a licence application is considered, Mendip rightly assesses the impact of an event on local people and seeks to find a decent balance. With regard to Glastonbury Festival Events Limited holding a concert in September, we’ve heard concerns from residents, and those concerns are reflected in more than fifty conditions that have been added to this licence. We believe they’re sensible measures and match the perceived risk of the event. With a view to Covid-19, of course, any event would have to be Covid-safe, and Mendip will work with other organisations and the organisers to make sure that’s the case.”
Councillor Phripp continued to discuss the event.
“It’s in everybody’s interest for events like these to be a success, but as chair of licensing at Mendip, I’m clear that we’ll keep our ears and eyes open and take on board feedback from residents in Pilton, just as we would with any other event. We hope that, Covid-depending, this event will be a success, and we look forward to welcoming music lovers back to our corner of Somerset this autumn.”
Fans will not have to wait until September to catch a Glastonbury event, a very special Livestream will be held on Saturday 22nd May direct from the Festival site. The Livestream will feature performances from HAIM, Coldplay and Bristol rockers IDLES.
Click here to watch the stream.
