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Michael Eavis warns Glastonbury might not return until 2022

Glastonbury might not return until 2022.

The world famous music festival’s co-organiser, Michael Eavis – who curates the lineup with his daughter Emily – has admitted that, whilst they are doing everything in their power to get the extravaganza back next year, it’s "wishful thinking" that it will go ahead in 2021.

Appearing on ‘ITV News West Country’, Eavis said: "500 people is OK isn’t it. But my job, 250,000 altogether is too many people I suppose isn’t it really.

"I’m still hoping I’m going to be running next year and I’m going to be moving heaven and earth to make sure that we do. But that doesn’t mean it will necessarily happen. That is just wishful thinking really."

Eavis insisted that, even if they have to wait an extra year, Glastonbury will survive in spite of the financial impact of the festival being postponed this summer, due to the ongoing threat of Covid-19.

Asked if he is concerned about the legendary event’s future, he said: "No I do not worry at all, I am so confident that it will survive. The only certainty I think is the year after, 2022. To be perfectly candid, so we might have to wait for two years maybe.

"But I am still hoping and we are fighting and working at it all the time to make sure it happens next year."

And Eavis reassured festival-goers that they will bounce back "stronger".

He added: "You can’t kill it off just like that. It will come back.

"It will come back, probably stronger actually."

This year marked the 50th anniversary of Glastonbury, and the June festival was set to see Sir Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar perform on the hallowed grounds of Worthy Farm in Somerset, south west England.

If 2021 does go ahead, Emily recently teased there will be "a hell of a lot of surprises".

She said: "We’re rolling two festivals together for 2021. We’ve got a hell of a lot of surprises and things that we were planning for the 50th (anniversary) and we’re going to try to get those things going for next year.

"Logistically it’s a little bit complicated because we’d already pencilled in many of the acts for 2021.

"It was one of those very unusual years where you’re quite far ahead, two years ahead, on the line-up. So we’re trying to work out how much we can fit into next year.

"We’ve had lots of amazing letters from people with ideas of how we could make it into like a two-week holiday or run over three weekends. There’s lots of ideas going."