2026 Fallow Year

[Nutella Versace]

On 7/7/2024 at 10:47 PM, BluesManP said:

 

 You guys give it a vibe that most festivals would kill for

This reminds me of a time at a Chemical Brothers gig about 20 years ago when this kid came up to me & my mate, who were dancing our tits off, and said how nice it was to see ‘people your age’  still out having fun (or words to that effect). How we didn’t knock his block off I don’t know! 
Anyway, 20 odd years later, at the age of 63 I’m still out having fun and doing Glasto. My first was 1981 (I think) 

[DeanoL]

5 hours ago, Skip997 said:

No idea what happens at Latitude, but T&C is a bit of a “sacred cow”, being Bella Churchill’s creation 

 

I think the last thing she would have wanted was for it to stagnate as a slowly declining tribute to her.

 

Like it's called "Theatre and Circus" but there's f**k all Theatre on there for a start. That doesn't have to be a given.

[Avalon_Fields]

2 hours ago, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

 

The cynic in me thinks they'll inevitably renege on it and 2027 will up being the fallow year and that this recent statement is simply to drum up even greater interest in 2025's event (there were some murmurings pre-festival this year of a perceived weaker lineup and reduced demand for 2025). I reckon a lot more people will be trying in October, if they think there won't be another festival until 2027. Either way, October/November's sale will probably be the most difficult yet.

I like your cynicism, keep it up! Keep 2026 alive!

[MilkyJoe]

3 hours ago, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

 

The cynic in me thinks they'll inevitably renege on it and 2027 will up being the fallow year and that this recent statement is simply to drum up even greater interest in 2025's event (there were some murmurings pre-festival this year of a perceived weaker lineup and reduced demand for 2025). I reckon a lot more people will be trying in October, if they think there won't be another festival until 2027. Either way, October/November's sale will probably be the most difficult yet.

Every year it’s the most difficult yet!😭

[goldfishboy]

regarding EPOs. i noticed the scanners sporadically went offline this year. presumably a connectivity issue, but one that would be disastrous when you have thousands of people queueing to enter. so more infrastructure definitely needed. 

[Ayrshire Chris]

2 hours ago, Avalon_Fields said:

I like your cynicism, keep it up! Keep 2026 alive!

Wasn’t 2017 meant to be fallow but it was delayed until 18? 

[homesick]

4 hours ago, stuie said:

 

Absolutely needed and way overdue.   The half ticket/pass out/wristband system is such a faff and clearly isn't working as it should.  Paying customers in a long queue to get their tickets checked on the way out, while staff/crew whizz past them with EPO scans and no queue isn't a good look either.   Everyone needs a bar code now! 

Obviously tough to say, but anecdotally would you say the number of people getting in for free is increasing?

 

Might be confirmation bias, but it seems that way to me. People wearing long sleeves in the heat of the day etc. 

 

And do you think changes can realistically made to clamp down on it? Do Emily Eavis and co care enough? Or would it be kind of deemed against the ethos of the festival

[philipsteak]

27 minutes ago, goldfishboy said:

regarding EPOs. i noticed the scanners sporadically went offline this year. presumably a connectivity issue, but one that would be disastrous when you have thousands of people queueing to enter. so more infrastructure definitely needed. 

 

That was definitely an issue last year too

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

Fallow year would be perfect for us here. Next year, I should be able to do it at least on my own, then the fallow, then in 2027 can start thinking about bringing the kids who'll be 8 and 6 by that point.

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

Oh, and any talk of next year being easier because of this year's line-up will be shocked in October when demand will be at an all time high 😅

[Suprefan]

Laughed out of the room when I said 2026 would be a fallow year way back when cause of the world cup. Aint that funny now is it. 

[efcfanwirral]

I didn't realise the Euros were going to be in UK and Ireland in 2028. Great week long escape from it as it looks like Glastonbury will be on that year...

[incident]

2 hours ago, Suprefan said:

Laughed out of the room when I said 2026 would be a fallow year way back when cause of the world cup. Aint that funny now is it. 

 

It's still hilarious tbh, if you actually believe that they'd schedule a fallow year (or even be vaguely influenced) to avoid clashing with some group stage matches taking place on a different continent.

[gigpusher]

8 hours ago, incident said:

 

It's still hilarious tbh, if you actually believe that they'd schedule a fallow year (or even be vaguely influenced) to avoid clashing with some group stage matches taking place on a different continent.

I think there'll have been a number of factors but it is likely one of the factors that has led to the decision. I'd guess the headliner pipeline not being great could be another. Hoping that general costs etc improve as well.

 

It's a good thing that we don't have to deal with a load of people asking will they show the football particularly as the games would likely be in festival prime time.

[Ayrshire Chris]

14 hours ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

Fallow year would be perfect for us here. Next year, I should be able to do it at least on my own, then the fallow, then in 2027 can start thinking about bringing the kids who'll be 8 and 6 by that point.

I reckon those ages would be just perfect to get the kids to enjoy the experience. 

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

12 hours ago, Suprefan said:

Laughed out of the room when I said 2026 would be a fallow year way back when cause of the world cup. Aint that funny now is it. 

 

Correct call, but for the wrong reason.

[Monty Pythagoras]

13 hours ago, Suprefan said:

Laughed out of the room when I said 2026 would be a fallow year way back when cause of the world cup. Aint that funny now is it. 

 

They've only done it so that no one asks where on site will be showing the games.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Still interested in the rationale is to why this is still required.  Is it on the terms of the licenses?

[gooner1990]

2 hours ago, gigpusher said:

I think there'll have been a number of factors but it is likely one of the factors that has led to the decision. I'd guess the headliner pipeline not being great could be another. Hoping that general costs etc improve as well.

 

It's a good thing that we don't have to deal with a load of people asking will they show the football particularly as the games would likely be in festival prime time.

 

That will just be stalled until 2028 😄 

[Avalon_Fields]

A Quick Look, the license doesn’t seem to specify years on/off.

 

https://somersetcc.sharepoint.com/sites/SCCPublic/Community/Forms/AllItems.aspx?id=%2Fsites%2FSCCPublic%2FCommunity%2FPremises Licence PRL767- Glastonbury Festival.pdf&parent=%2Fsites%2FSCCPublic%2FCommunity&p=true&ga=1

[gigpusher]

14 minutes ago, gooner1990 said:

 

That will just be stalled until 2028 😄 

True but one year less of it I'll take 😄 

[CanWeRest]

21 hours ago, DeanoL said:

 

I think the last thing she would have wanted was for it to stagnate as a slowly declining tribute to her.

 

Like it's called "Theatre and Circus" but there's f**k all Theatre on there for a start. That doesn't have to be a given.

 

Good point about the theatre side of things. 

[CaledonianGonzo]

There's theatre in the Astrolabe, no?  Plus all the walkabouts and interactive performers all fall under that umbrella.

[NotAnInsider]

There's chatter that the 2026 fallow year is to make some changes. They want to use the 2025 sale to work out if the shift in towards more younger groups with greater focus on late night stuff is genuine, or if its a product of the ticket exploits from the last few years and/or a quirk of the ticketing system itself.

 

Once they establish that they have 2026 to make changes to the site layout or ticketing system as needed. Seems painfully logical at least; if some people within the festival are suggesting gutting 'historic' (for want of a better term) areas of the site others might question the need to do it.

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

19 hours ago, MilkyJoe said:

Every year it’s the most difficult yet!😭

 

That's probably true. I just think that with how successful this recent event was (even with a perceived weaker lineup), with the added jeopardy of the impending fallow year, we're in for an even tougher sale. 

 

There'll be some of us reading this who were in attendance this year that may not be back on the farm for three years. Yikes.