Why Glastonbury isn't on this year as 'fallow year' explained

A year has passed since Lewis Capaldi's iconic surprise performance on the Glastonbury stage. The legendary five-day-music event has been an important date in UK calendars since it first took place in 1970. However , Glastonbury will not take place this year as it is a planned "fallow year". Organiser Emily Eavis previously confirmed the legendary Worthy Farm festival will take a break in 2026 to allow the farmland to rest and recover. Traditionally , Glastonbury runs for four or five years in a row before taking a year off. Fallow years were held in 2012 and 2018, with the festival then forced to take two years off during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Speaking to the Glastonbury Free Press last year, Emily said: "We’re taking a fallow year in 2026 to give the land a rest, and the festival before a fallow year is always a fun one to plan because you almost have to fit two years into one. “I really would like to say thank you to everyone who’s made this year so special. It’s got to be the best one yet. Every single one of our vast, incredible crew is crucial to making this event work. "And, of course, it simply wouldn’t exist without the participation of the kind, brilliant, respectful festival-goers. "I think people here show a better way to live, and that they do take a little bit of that back to the outside world with them. It honestly restores your faith in humanity.” Last year's festival was one to remember, featuring major headliners including Olivia Rodrigo, Sir Rod Stewart, Neil Young, and The 1975. Other huge names took to the stage including Nile Rodgers & Chic, Charli XCX, RAYE and The Script. Glastonbury has now confirmed it will make a highly-anticipated return in 2027. It will take place from Wednesday, June 23 to Monday, June 27. Glastonbury takes place on a working dairy farm and the 900 acre site is home to the farm’s herds of cows when the festival isn’t taking place. During the weekend of the festival around 200,000 people descend on the site, so the fallow years allow the land time to recover. On top of that, setting up the UK’s largest festival is a mammoth task, so the organisers and everyone else involved in making it happen need a break too. Previously, festival founder Michael Eavis, Emily’s dad, suggested the festival could move to a different location during the fallow years to allow Worthy Farm to recover without having to cancel the festival altogether. In 2016, he told the BBC he had found a site “towards the Midlands” that could be used as an alternative site. He said: "I'm arranging to move the show [but] it would be a huge loss to Somerset if it went there forever." However, there has been no word from organisers since on whether the idea is still being considered. Emily had previously said that any event away from Worthy Farm would not bear the Glastonbury name.