The Variety Bazaar

[Pinhead]

I would not think that they could shrink GF now either - the bar has been set as high as it is now and the size is needed to accomodate that - either it goes ahead again one day in that form or not at all I would think. Besides, if it was that easy to shrink the'd have done it years ago to reduce the same land rents and negotiations that are causing so much trouble now.

[cidy]

The farm as a dairy business must be one of the very few that is doing ok as many run at a loss .

Perhaps he wants to keep that as his priority now .

I'm sure I read he was in talks with innocent on marketing worthy farm milk in cartons , innocent ran a small acoustic festival this year innocent manage the farm in few years and start there own small festival offering free milk to punters and so the cycle starts again !!

[st dan]

Thinking about it, wouldn't it actually be a benefit to the Eavii if they can run a successful festival elsewhere?

They can still be the figureheads of the festival and have total control over the bookings and set up as they do now, but they can do it without the need of taking up months a year of their working farm, and the substantial damage to the land that is done by both the weather and the people that attend? 

[JoBalls]

I would tend to agree that this is a negotiation tactic. It shows that the Eavi are thinking about alternatives and not afraid of moving somewhere else if the other landowners don't play ball. 

The surrounding landowners are (as far as I'm aware) all farmers who are running businesses. They will agree to the use of their land if renting it out to the Eavi is more profitable than farming it. Unfortunately for the Eavi, much of the land got basically destroyed last year due to the terrible weather, which means that the farmers are almost undoubtedly asking for more money now. They will be needing to make a move to gain back some of the power, and this could be it.

[DeanoL]

They clearly want to run a new festival elsewhere, and the simple truth is that if you want something even near the scale of Glastonbury, you're looking at a site without the pre-existing infrastructure. It's a huge job. Giving themselves two years to do it is frankly the only sane approach.

For similar reasons, I'm almost certain they'll be doing the festival they know how to run at Worthy Farm in 2020. Because the true feasibility of any new site isn't going to measured until the festival actually happens there. 2019, Bazaar could well be a clusterfuck. Especially if they aim as high as the current festival. There's just zero way they could go into 2019 with a set in stone plan for running it in the same place in 2020. Too many variables. And I don't think they can be in a position to have another year off in 2020 after 2018. 

So I think planning for 2020 at Worthy will go ahead as per normal.

Past that, I don't think even they know, and nor do they need to. 2020 could be the final festival at Worthy. Or they could alternate every year. Or just use the new site to cover fallow years (but perhaps go back to having them every four years). Or they could run both shows. On consecutive or even the same weekends. Or at opposite ends of the summer. 

The simple fact is no one knows. And no one will know until that festival in 2019 actually happens.

[Pinhead]

I dont know that you can say their land was destroyed exactly. In the context of farming it was just a little 'churned up'. This is about local politics as much as it is about land rents. The onus is on Eavis to prove he doesn't need Pilton any more in the long run and that if there remains a wish amongst the local farming community for it to remain in some form or other then there has to be a bit more give and take. There is also the fact that GFEL is now an Ents company with wider interests than just Glasto and this has to be demonstrated and explored by Eavis' new management team.

[Pinhead]

Its difficult to have Glasto as an irregular event however - it may make a regular local land use contract harder to organise and negotiate. To some extent they need to clarify this position but cannot do so until it has been demonstrated that alternative sites are viable. I doibt too that the new festival is going to be touted as some sort of 'replacement' for Glasto - it needs its own identity to succeed and may well be somewhat smaller than the Pilton enterprise.

[johngordon]

5 hours ago, Avalon_Fields said:

The way it reads, it sounds more like a permanent move...

I don't know - from the story on the BBC:

 

However, fellow organiser Emily Eavis tried to clarify the situation by tweeting:"We're still planning an event in the future at a different location - which we are calling Variety Bazaar. But Glastonbury Festival will always be called Glastonbury and will remain at Worthy Farm."

[DeanoL]

12 minutes ago, Pinhead said:

Its difficult to have Glasto as an irregular event however - it may make a regular local land use contract harder to organise and negotiate. To some extent they need to clarify this position but cannot do so until it has been demonstrated that alternative sites are viable. I doibt too that the new festival is going to be touted as some sort of 'replacement' for Glasto - it needs its own identity to succeed and may well be somewhat smaller than the Pilton enterprise.

That they're giving themselves two years to plan this, and clearly looking at sites not previously used for festivals, suggests to me they're planning something big, rather than a smaller boutique thing. That doesn't mean Glastonbury sized, but I'd expect at least Reading/V size.

[Pinhead]

Quite possibly yes - all bets are off a bit at the moment without knowing the site. Sounds like it might be focussed on the SL crew and their efforts however...

[Rumblestripe]

I do not read anything into that suggesting that this will be the last GF as we know and love it. It suggests to me that in order to make efficient use of the human resources that make up the festival team that tehy need to put on a festival every year. Plainly using Worthy Farm EVERY year is not feasible. The only question that I can see is how often the Worthy Farm event will run. Will it be four in and one out or every other year?

Panic ye not, trust The Eavii for they know what they are doing.

[Rumblestripe]

Glexit means Glexit?

Nah!

[Pinhead]

I wonder - could it be the WOMAD site or is that too close...

[Sawdusty surfer]

1 hour ago, cidy said:

.

I'm sure I read he was in talks with innocent on marketing worthy farm milk in cartons , innocent ran a small acoustic festival this year innocent manage the farm in few years and start there own small festival offering free milk to punters and so the cycle starts again !!

Innocent now owned by Coca Cola so unlikely.......  I hope

[russycarps]

2 hours ago, Scruffylovemonster said:

But there's a massive chance they'd only be filled by people who only go once and eventually it goes thje way of Bestival and struggles to sell. Even first timers fall in love with the place at the moment and a lot of that is down to location. Wouldn't take much for the "magic" and therefore the reputation to lessen and become just another music festival.

 

And unless they start paying acts much more (and therefore charging more) they definitely can't compete when it comes to mainstream acts. So then do they go down the sponsorship route to get more money to compete? Which becomes even more like any other festival. and so on and so on....

You've lost me here. What difference does the location make to a first timer? 

I love the location because I have a different memory in every corner from many years attending, but I'm sure the first time I went the location was far down the list of reasons why I wanted to return.

Edited January 17, 2017 by russycarps

[CaledonianGonzo]

Maybe not a great comparison, but....:

I've never been to the Mardi Gras, but I'd be less likely to be enthused about visiting it if they up and moved it from New Orleans to AN Other city in Louisiana.

[Rose-Colored Boy]

2 hours ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

The Beeb is definitely a big part of it - and I'd say they've got zero chance of attracting a similar amount of coverage for a festival that isn't Glastonbury at Worthy Farm.

Yes, it wouldn't surprise me if the BBC scaled down their coverage of the existing festival in the next few years let alone any replacement event. In the last few years Reading has gone from extensive blanket TV coverage to merely late night highlights of the headliners, and while 'Glastonbury' is culturally more significant  enough that they'd be more resistant to tone down coverage, a 'new' event with no history or cultural importance probably wouldn't interest the BBC at all given the cuts they're being forced to make. The only justification they could make for covering it would be the lineup - and given most of the acts the BBC makes a big deal of at Glastonbury are at other events too, even that probably wouldn't give the new event enough weight.

Edited January 17, 2017 by Zac Quinn

[bucko]

The main reason i fell in love with the festival is the variety it offers. If they can reproduce something like it at a new venue i would want a ticket.

[russycarps]

I get that if they move it to Luton or something it'll lose it's magic, but there are plenty of places in the British countryside as beautiful as worthy farm

Of course there's the magic of the ley lines. But that only exists if you believe. And the average festival goer does not.

[grumpyhack]

 A touch of an Aussie flavour to it but the beer is ready.

[stuartbert two hats]

1 minute ago, russycarps said:

I get that if they move it to Luton or something it'll lose it's magic, but there are plenty of places in the British countryside as beautiful as worthy farm

Of course there's the magic of the ley lines. But that only exists if you believe. And the average festival goer does not.

That's because they're complete hocus pocus

[russycarps]

2 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

That's because they're complete hocus pocus

If the festival moves from worthy farm and withers and dies, then will you believe??

[stuartbert two hats]

2 minutes ago, russycarps said:

If the festival moves from worthy farm and withers and dies, then will you believe??

It's possible to believe that the location is wonderful without believing in some cod-mystic twaddle someone came up with in the 20th century.

[guypjfreak]

If this is all true and even worse if it works then Mr E or more to the point little miss E E wont have to deal with the 22 land owners down here and we will probably lose Glastonbury altogether with in a few years... 

It does state in the announcement that the next generation may find it difficult to deal with 22 people... That I take it to mean. Miss EE... And to have a name ready I reckon they are going to play this like Mrs May and we won't know WTF is happening and then like today it'll be a hard glastobrexit......... 

Today is a sad day.... 

[DeanoL]

I know it doesn't read that way but I took the 'next generation' comment to be more that Emily is going to be dealing with 22 sons/daughters of the other landowners too. And that's a whole new ball game compared to Michael's dealing with the current ones.