Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis is to retire after 40 years of running the festival. He revealed he will hand over the reins to daughter Emily ‘after 2011′. Speaking to The Guardian newspaper he said “I’m living on top of the hill now, away from the farm, so (Emily’s) taking over the house, which is nice. A new generation of Eavises can live here.”
Michael Eavis founded the Glastonbury Festival in 1970, when T-Rex headlined to a crowd of 1500 people. Under Eavis’ stewardship the festival has grown into one of the most famous musical events in the world, now attended by well over 150,000 people a year.
However, Eavis would like to remain involved with the festival after the hand over, saying “I still feel I have an important role to play. Even if I go I’ll worry about the drains, the rubbish, the recycling. There will be a gradual process of her and Nick (Emily Eavis’ fiancee Nick Dewey) taking it over.”
Eavis has also revealed Bruce Springsteen is keen to play an extended set when he headlines the Pyramid stage on Saturday, “he wants to play for three hours actually, so we can give him two and a half by the sound of it or maybe two (hours) forty-five.”
Sunny weather is predicted for the festival, which begins on Friday, with the chance of rain on Saturday.