Glastonbury: Emily Eavis discusses ticket ballot and shoots down two-weekend festival
Many fans have requested a ballot system be introduced for the hugely in-demand festival, with tickets increasingly hard to come by.
Glastonbury Festival boss Emily Eavis has discussed the possibility of a two-weekend festival, as well as a much-requested ticket ballot system.
The festival returns to Worthy Farm later this month, with Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA set to headline the Pyramid Stage.
In a new interview with Nick Grimshaw and Annie Mac on their BBC podcast Sidetracked, Eavis was asked about the idea of hosting Glastonbury across two weekends, as is seen at Coachella and has been trialled at the likes of Primavera Sound in Barcelona.
Eavis admitted that the festival “definitely can’t do two weekends,” adding: “We just couldn’t – can you imagine?”
Of the idea of a ticket ballot, she added: “It’s been a discussion, actually. I think there are so many people on our database that are registered for tickets. And I think a lot of them don’t try as hard as [others].
“Half of them try really, really, really hard [to buy tickets] and half of them maybe try and then don’t – they’re not as bothered about coming. So I’m not saying… it’s hard to say the percentage exactly.
Eavis went on: “I think if we did a ballot, we’d end up with some people [getting tickets] who weren’t necessarily as bothered about coming.
“It’s really hard to say this year ’cause I know a lot of people didn’t get tickets, and they wanted them. But a lot of the time, people who really, really want them do get them through volunteering or through competitions.”
“I know it’s hard, it is hard. It’s one of the worst sides to the job… there aren’t enough tickets for everybody.”
Elsewhere in the same interview, Eavis revealed that the festival is planning to take a fallow year in 2026. Eavis expanded: “We are due a fallow year. The fallow year is important because it gives the land a rest, it gives the cows a chance to be out for longer and reclaim their land. And I think it’s important it just gives everybody a little time to just switch off. And the public as well.
“I know we’re in the middle of it but it is a lot isn’t it. And they you go away for a bit and it feels lovely when you come back.”
Earlier this month, Glastonbury announced its full 2024 line-up and details of stage times. Over recent weeks, the festival have been sharing stage-by-stage announcements, including the news that the festival’s towering Arcadia spider will be replaced by a giant dragonfly, that the Genosys stage will return to Block9 and the end of The Rabbit Hole after 17 years at the festival, replaced by new venues The Wishing Well and Scissors in The Park.