Live Music: Where Are We Now?
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COPYRIGHT FUTURE 2021
IT WAS THE announcement that, in recent weeks, had come to feel inevitable. Rumours were swatted away and ticket-holders crossed their fingers, but in the end it wasn’t a big surprise to learn that Glastonbury, the colossus in Britain’s summer festival calendar, would be cancelled for a second consecutive year due to ongoing Covid restrictions.
As co-organiser Emily Eavis told the Guardian, the decision reflected “everything from restrictions on public transport capacities to availability of the medical staff we need to work at the event, to the simple fact that mass gatherings are currently still legally prohibited and it’s not at all clear when that will be reversed.”
Following the news of the Glastonbury cancellation, many music lovers immediately resigned themselves to a second summer without festivals. The New York Times quoted Olivier Garnier, spokesman for France’s Hellfest (set for June 18-20) as saying: “It’s sent a very bad signal”.
Elsewhere, a measure of optimism prevailed. The Download Festival (set for June 4-6) tweeted: “Rest assured we’re continuing to work behind the scenes to get ready for Download this summer and hope to have more news for you by March 1.” (Download booker Andy Copping declined our request for further comment.)
For starters, the cancellation of Glastonbury doesn’t automatically mean the rest will fall. A uniquely
