Only 3 more years left.....

[Roo]

My instant reaction to this was what utter bovine excrement!

Almost every media outlet choosing to cover this, rather than report on T in the park, T4 & Sonisphere, or any other live event over the weekend, must surely have used the same source and been taking what Mr Eavis said out of context to create easy sensational news.

So, what do people here think about this, is there really some truth or not?

[akicif]

My theory, which is mine, is that even Mr Eavis suffers post-Glasto Blues.... He's looking at other festivals, both the commercial ones, which are losing attendees hand over fist, and the new ones, which are lasting a year or so and then vanishing, and seeing nowt but doom'n gloom.

Yes, some of the big commercial festivals are seeing less numbers, and some of the smaller new festivals have died off remarkable quickly.

I think, though, that this is due to several factors: the big commercial festivals are being seen for what they are (finely-tuned machines for separating punters from their dosh), and people are going to the cosier festivals instead. Said smaller festivals, though, especially the "boutique" ones aren't being run efficiently and the folk who run them are either burning out after a year or so because there's more work involved than they imagined, or messed up on their sums...

So - and this may well be me doing an ostrich impersonation - I think that the factors causing other festivals to decline simply don't apply to Glastonbury: although it'd be nice to think that if there is a demographic that's getting bored with the whole festival thing and simply stopping going, it includes the folk who just don't seem to "get" Glastonbury....

[almost but not quite disclaimer: I used to be involved in running SF conventions, and while the numbers are nowhere near the same, the publicity for the World SF convention when it was held in Brighton in 1987 resulted in lots of groups deciding to run conventions themselves ... suddenly lots of the semi-regular medium-sized conventions were in financial trouble because half their members were going instead to the newer events - this nearly killed off many of the medium sized events, the smaller events didn't have the sticking power, and the only events that weathered the storm (especially as there was quite a recession through the nineties) were the really big ones.... Now, if you take that sequence of events, and replace the Worldcon with the massive over-publicity Glastonbury's had from the BBC for the last few years, it all does seem to fall into place]

[Mart44]

Let's hope the best one in the world keeps going. I'm not ready to give in yet. And as long as it keeps selling out in a day there shouldn't be a problem.

[maclauk]

Have just seen this article in The Guardian : http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011...is-glastonbury

I'm not sure why Mr Eavis is so negative about the future. He mentions problems selling tickets for Latitude and Womad, and Latitude is organised by Festival Republic as is Glastonbury.

Even if the number of festivals is outstripping demand for tickets Glastonbury has the biggest draw of the lot. And if times get really tough then perhaps Glastonbury could shrink somewhat in size. As for poor ticket sales in 2008, that came after two years of dreadful rain (2005 & 2007) and a fallow year. Those buying in 2008 had to think back to 2003 to remember a dry festival and to my mind that was key; Jay-Z had nothing to do with it.

On the the positive side there are a lot of people for whom Glastonbury is the highlight of the year and who love it for what it is and was.

[stinkywitch]

Emily won't let it go. They have been spending so much money over the last few years on drainage and new areas, I think Akicif has hit the nail on the head.
Anyway the thought of waiting 2 yrs is bad enough, I relly don't want to think about my kids not being able to go when they are adults!

[Buffystar]

Guardian twisting Mr E's words yet again so many inaccurate quotes. 2 yrs ago it didn't lose money how come they still managed to make a sizable donation to charities. They just didn't make a massive profit due to the weather. Bringing in all the straw and getting rid of the mud is very expensive.
£200 for a ticket is nothing really for the amount of acts it is possible to see over the 5 days. A mate did a calculation of the amount of ticket money it would have cost him to see all the acts he saw this Glasto 2011 £5045 !!!!! that's right $5045 that's not including Arcadia and Shangra-la where he saw Orbital, Thom Yorke, Jarvis Cocker and Jessie J sets and many more. The Eavis's have invested too much money into the infrastructure of the festival grounds as mentioned by Stinkwitch they still need to pay all that off.
Also the acts that play Glasto do not get a massive appearance fee. Glasto is notorious for not paying acts their going rates, its all about the publicity for them Janelle Monea (sp) and many other acts CD sales rocket after one televised performance.
I predict the festival will go on for 5 more years with Michael at the helm then Emily and her husband will take over. I do though hope Festival Republic don't get more control as it will just slide down into the quagmire of Reading and Leeds.

[tort]

Considering the Guardian is the festival’s “media partner” I can’t believe how inaccurate that article is. For a start the actual interview was given to the Times and the impression I got from reading their interpretation of what Michael said was that the bubble is bursting for the festival scene as a whole and not specifically Glastonbury. Also regarding the point about nearly going bankrupt in 2008, well yes the festival cost £22m but it didn’t lose £22m because, as the article states, it did eventually sell out!

At the end of the day a lot of festivals are still selling out as quickly or even quicker than they have done in the past. And they are the ones which offer something a little bit different and value for money. Festival goers are getting more sophisticated. They are no longer prepared to be treated like cattle and fleeced through the nose for crap beer. Hopefully what we are seeing is not the death knell of the festival scene as a whole but a wake up call to those organisers who don’t go the extra mile to offer originality & value for money.

[Mandypants]

My thought is that Melvin Benn is getting the jitters, what with Latitude and Reading/Leeds not selling out by a long margin, and it's rubbing off on Sir Michael. I don't think Glasto has anything to worry about, it's a million miles away from the likes of Reading and Leeds, where you are herded in and out of an arena, then left to your own devices the rest of the time. Glasto has survived for 41 years, it's not going anywhere just yet.

[stinkywitch]

Emily Eavis tweeted yesterday that they have NO intention of going anywhere any time soon.
Think I will go with what she says. x

[Mandypants]

Emily Eavis tweeted yesterday that they have NO intention of going anywhere any time soon.
Think I will go with what she says. x

Me too. Bless him, our Michael is a pessimistic bugger isn't he

[stinkywitch]

our Michael is a pessimistic bugger isn't he

or a victim or the press!