Glastonbury, one of the world’s most iconic festival, has been forced to cancel their 2020 event over COVID-19. This years event was set to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking event.

“Clearly this was not a course of action we hoped to take for our 50th-anniversary event,” organisers Michael and Emily Eavis shared in a statement. “Following the new government measures announced this week — and in times of such unprecedented uncertainty — this is our only viable option.”

This announcement comes days after Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged the public to avoid large gatherings and self-isolate.

Glastonbury was due to take place from June 24-28. In the statement, organisers expressed hope that though they hope the COVID-19 situation improves by June, logistically they wouldn’t have been able to pull off the event in this time were social distancing is encouraged.

“We are no longer able to spend the next three months with thousands of crew here on the farm, helping us with the enormous job of building the infrastructure and attractions needed to welcome more than 200,000 people to a temporary city in these fields,” the statement read.

The 50th-anniversary instalment of Glastonbury Festival was set to be headlined by Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift and Paul McCartney. All punters that made a deposit will be guaranteed a ticket for the 2021 festival. Glastonbury is yet to specify whether the billed lineup for this year will roll over to next year.

Glastonbury is the latest in a slew of high-profile music events that have been forced to either cancel or postpone in the wake of COVID-19. This month we’ve seen the cancellation of major events like SXSW, Download Festival and Bluesfest. Whilst Splendour in the Grass, Coachella and Under the Southern Stars were all forced to postpone their events to a later date.

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