Christopher BarrettGlastonbury Festival (cap. 210,000) founder Michael Eavis was honoured for services to music and charity at Windsor Castle yesterday, 23 April, where he was knighted by Princess Anne.
Receiving the honour from the Princess Royal in an investiture ceremony, the 88-year-old dairy farmer reportedly joked that the Duke of Sussex once “jumped the fence” at the festival. He said, “The King came once, Prince Charles. And Harry – I think he jumped the fence.”
Eavis first staged a festival on his Worthy Farm site in 1970, and the event was renamed The Glastonbury Fayre the following year. He received a CBE in 2007.
During an interview after receiving the news of the knighthood, Eavis said, “I have had a good life and managed to keep the festival going for 53 years. It’s all gone so well in the end. It took 25 years for the public to catch on. We started with 500 people in 1970 and we’ve finished up with millions wanting to come every year now. That’s quite extraordinary, isn’t it?
This year’s 26-30 June festival, which sold out in under one hour, is to be headlined by two female acts for the first time; London-born Dua Lipa and US hip hop/R&B act SZA.
Glastonbury Festival raised nearly £4 million for charity last year, which also saw the opening of 20 social houses in Pilton on land donated by Eavis and using stone from Worthy Farm – bringing the total to 52.
Last year also saw the festival recognised with the Access All Areas Editor’s Award for its pioneering sustainability work, including it being powered entirely by renewable energy for the first time. On receiving the award, Glastonbury Festival co-organiser Emily Eavis said, “We’re just trying to improve year on year. [Across the industry] everyone is talking, sharing ideas and wanting to move forward. A lot of progress is being made.”