Emily Eavis scotches Glastonbury relocation rumours following 'dangerous gas pipe' claim
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Version 0 of 1. Glastonbury organisers have denied reports that the festival will be forced to relocate because of a gas pipe which runs through the site. Speculation about the potential move was triggered last week, when farmer and festival founder Michael Eavis told an audience about “a gas main running through the site” which Mendip District Council and gas technicians allegedly deemed “dangerous”. After suggesting that Eavis has already considered a back-up location “about 20 miles up the road” should the move need to take place, his daughter, Emily Eavis, has now clarified these comments, stating that there was a “misunderstanding” about the gas line. “There seems to have been a misunderstanding about the gas line which runs under a part of the festival site. We work closely with the National Grid to ensure all necessary precautions are taken in relation to the gas line,” she told the Guardian. “This means we can continue running the festival on Worthy Farm, without any issues connected to this.” Worthy Farm has been the bucolic location of Glastonbury festival since its very first event in 1970. Located between the small villages of Pilton and Pylle in Somerset, the site is overlooked by Glastonbury Tor in the Vale of Avalon, a serene setting which plays host to 185,000 festivalgoers each year. Speaking in Ireland at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute in Dublin, Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis also addressed questions about the recent terror attacks in Paris. The 80-year-old said that he did not think the annual event would be a target “for that kind of thing” because of its distance from major cities, and added that organisers did not want to take extra precautions as a result. “We’ve already had a meeting with the police. We’ve gone all these years without any trouble at all. Hardly any violence, hardly any crime, and it would be a terrible, terrible shame if something is about to change,” he said. While the full lineup for Glastonbury 2016 will not be revealed until spring next year, “about 80%” of the bill is booked, according to Emily. Speaking in a recent interview, she not only confirmed that most of next year’s festival was complete, but also said that 2017’s headliners were already pencilled in. |