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Glastonbury Might Be Forced to Leave Worthy Farm

Michael Eavis has flagged up council concerns over gas main running through the site.
Emma Garland
London, GB

Glastonbury may be forced to relocate due to concerns over the safety of a gas pipe running through its current location on Worthy Farm, where the festival has been held since its inception in 1970.

Speaking in Dublin last week, Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis warned: “We’ve got a gas main running through the site, a big gas pipe coming down from the North of England to Torquay. They [Mendip District Council and gas technicians] said this is dangerous and I said, ‘Well it’s been there for years and so have we’. So every year they make a fuss about this pipe."

The decision was made last year "to turn the pressure down on the pipe" during the festival weekend. "We’re supposed to stop people dancing on the pipe, which is a pretty impossible thing to do," he added, "They say that if they are all dancing on the pipe at the same time they could fracture it."

Glastonbury's current ten year license for its location on Worthy Farm doesn't expire until 2024, so it's unlikely to move until then, if at all. Eavis says he's already sorted a reserve location "about 20 miles up the road" in the event of the worst case scenario, but added: "I hope I don’t have to do that because the festival is really about the farm and Glastonbury and the vale of Avalon – all the mystery and legends of the area. So it wouldn’t be quite the same if we had to move it away for the sake of the gas pipe. But you never know.”

So, when you're raving down the rabbit hole next summer, dancing along to the sound of Dermot O'Leary beatmatching The Cribs with a Patrick Wolf remix, just be a bit more conscientious that you might be stamping on the gas supply for the entire South of England alright? Cheers.