The Variety Bazaar

[russycarps]

Just now, mjsell said:

But what if it is sentiment and nostalgia that is keeping the festival as popular as it is. Like ME actually says - moving the festival (long term) would be a big gamble - a risk most big businesses would avoid.

Yep, and it's certainly a gamble that michael isnt prepared to make. But I think emily would.

Sentiment and nostalgia may have kept it going through the less popular years, but it's more popular than it has ever been now. The glastonbury "brand" is more powerful than the location. Most attendees are new to the festival. The old timers to whom nostalgia is important are definitely the minority.

 

 

[CaledonianGonzo]

I honestly think a lot of the brand's value is tied in to the location.

[russycarps]

Just now, CaledonianGonzo said:

I honestly think a lot of the brand's value is tied in to the location.

for the fanatics on this website it is, but for people who've never been? or who have been just once or twice? And they are the majority, and the future of the festival.

I'd stop going if it moved sites, as would a few thousand others no doubt, but our places would be filled tenfold I reckon.

 

[Keithy]

3 minutes ago, mjsell said:

I'm not sure how you got all of that out of a short article and a tweet.

I fear people are jumping to the worst possible conclusions with this.

Just my take (plus previous stuff). VB is hardly going to be a small festival and I'd imagine they are looking at something on the scale of the current festival to cover the huge variety of stages they currently have. If it's a success, they will run it as often as possible, It's a lot of hassle just for an event to run in fallow years.

To me it seemed a carefully worded tweet from Emily and combined with the landowner issues, having Glastonbury Festival on Worthy Farm will mean there's always a Glastonbury Festival but size would dictate it's much, much smaller and much easier to manage. Perhaps even just a weekend festival?

[Keithy]

1 minute ago, russycarps said:

for the fanatics on this website it is, but for people who've never been? or who have been just once or twice? And they are the majority, and the future of the festival.

I'd stop going if it moved sites, as would a few thousand others no doubt, but our places would be filled tenfold I reckon.

 

Aye. And I think people would still refer to the new festival as 'Glastonbury' too, despite what they officially call it. 

[CaledonianGonzo]

1 minute ago, russycarps said:

for the fanatics on this website it is, but for people who've never been? or who have been just once or twice? And they are the majority, and the future of the festival.

I'd stop going if it moved sites, as would a few thousand others no doubt, but our places would be filled tenfold I reckon.

 

I'd argue from the other angle.  Once they move the risk that it becomes like any other festival competing purely on the quality of its line-up increases tenfold.

The location isn't the only factor, but it's a powerful ingredient in the recipe that makes it unique.

(other factors include but not limited to: family ownership, no branding / advertising, iconic Pyramid Stage, being on a working farm, cider, Tor imagery, integrated arena and campsite, etc.)

[Badlands]

1 hour ago, thewayiam said:

Yeah I don't think her piece is as proof reading as she'd like it to be.

Was this a meta post?

[stuartbert two hats]

20 minutes ago, michael eavis' beard said:

I know. Probably worded poorly.  Meant would the future owner(s) of Worthy Farm be willing to deal with 22 other landowners in order to put on a music festival each year.  Maybe they would look to scale it back and therefore have to deal with less.  Maybe they would think it's not worth the hassle, sod the festival and just stick to looking after the herd.

I don't think any of the owners of Worthy Farm would be involved in those negotiations apart from Emily.  She's the one putting on the festival, the owners (whoever they are) are just going to be involved to collect money, or perhaps to authorise capital expenditure.

My take is it'll end up like this:

• The current farm management will continue.  This isn't Michael, he owns the farm, he doesn't run it.
• The ownership of the farm will be split up between his children.
• Emily will negotiate with the 22 other landowners, plus her siblings to use the land for the festival.
• The owners of the farm will collect money, the salaried management of the farm will manage the farm.
• Eventually there'll be a new event somewhere else.  
  • If it's successful, this may lead to a downsizing of the Worthy Farm festival.
  • Alternately, the profits from the extra event may provide the funds for additional purchases of adjascent land, sorting out (or at least easing) the neighbour problem.

Purely speculatively, since there will presumably not be an owner of Worthy Farm quite so committed to the farming aspect, there may be additional, smaller events that take place on that land, since from a business perspective the festival makes more money than the farm.  If you're in it for the money over the farming, then it's not a problem to severely curtail the amount of actual farming that goes on.

[Hugh Jass]

4 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

 

(other factors include but not limited to: family ownership, no branding / advertising, iconic Pyramid Stage, being on a working farm, cider, Tor imagery, integrated arena and campsite, etc.)

I fear we'll lose the integrated aena/campsite in the move, and all of the generous BYOBB connotations it provides.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Aye - at the moment they're not competing on a level playing field because of the brand.

If they deliberately choose to level that out then they'll find themselves in the same boat as everyone else - and the conditions aren't particularly good atm.

[mjsell]

6 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Aye - at the moment they're not competing on a level playing field because of the brand.

If they deliberately choose to level that out then they'll find themselves in the same boat as everyone else - and the conditions aren't particularly good atm.

This.

The location might not be important for the vast majority of punters these days, but the location and brand are of vital importance to securing the strongest and deepest lineups in the world. Lose that and you lose a huge percentage of people that see it as just another festival (that happens to offer the best lineups).

[zahidf]

https://mobile.twitter.com/emilyeavis/status/821385124059160577

[FrankieX]

I think a large part of the discount bands are willing to offer to play Glastonbury is not due to the name, history, location or whatever else that the festival currently has. It's the BBC deal. If you headline Glastonbury you get a live show broadcast on the most popular TV channel in the UK, tons of airplay on the most popular radio stations, and tons of free promotion across TV, radio and of course the BBC website. You might lose some money on the fee, but you likely gain it back in album sales. If the Eavii can get similar blanket coverage for Variety Bazaar (and I think that's a terrible name), I see no reason why it can't attract a similar level of performer to the current festival.

[mufcok]

Whatever's going on, whether they have differing opinions or not, Emily and Michael need to speak to each other. It's happening more and more where they just come out with contradicting statements. Getting annoying now, when most people are desperate for it to stay at Worthy Farm

[Keithy]

Hopefully we just look back at VB in a few years with a rueful shake of the head at what a mad idea it was and it becomes a standing joke and shorthand for 'a mad idea'

[CaledonianGonzo]

5 minutes ago, FrankieX said:

I think a large part of the discount bands are willing to offer to play Glastonbury is not due to the name, history, location or whatever else that the festival currently has. It's the BBC deal. If you headline Glastonbury you get a live show broadcast on the most popular TV channel in the UK, tons of airplay on the most popular radio stations, and tons of free promotion across TV, radio and of course the BBC website. You might lose some money on the fee, but you likely gain it back in album sales. If the Eavii can get similar blanket coverage for Variety Bazaar (and I think that's a terrible name), I see no reason why it can't attract a similar level of performer to the current festival.

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.

[dentalplan]

1 minute ago, Keithy said:

Hopefully we just look back at VB in a few years with a rueful shake of the head at what a mad idea it was and it becomes a standing joke and shorthand for 'a mad idea'

...and smile as we hand over £375 for a weekend ticket in the comfort of knowing Glastonbury Festival remains over the barrel the landowners are forcing them over.

[Pinhead]

Who will blink first then during this brinkmanship? Eavis has to lay on an alternative event to proove that it is possible and profitable to the associate landowners, otherwise they will call his bluff. I would think then that 2018 will remain fallow and 2019 will see the new festival go ahead. The option then remains to run Glasto Fest at Pilton again should the land negotiations become easier in the future. I dont think ME is that concerned anymore about it continuing there however. He wants his farm back for his retirement and has always maintained that the farm is more important than the festival to him

 

[Pinhead]

Who will blink first then during this brinkmanship? Eavis has to lay on an alternative event to proove that it is possible and profitable to the associate landowners, otherwise they will call his bluff. I would think then that 2018 will remain fallow and 2019 will see the new festival go ahead. The option then remains to run Glasto Fest at Pilton again should the land negotiations become easier in the future. I dont think ME is that concerned anymore about it continuing there however. He wants his farm back for his retirement and has always maintained that the farm is more important than the festival to him

 

[Pinhead]

Who will blink first then during this brinkmanship? Eavis has to lay on an alternative event to proove that it is possible and profitable to the associate landowners, otherwise they will call his bluff. I would think then that 2018 will remain fallow and 2019 will see the new festival go ahead. The option then remains to run Glasto Fest at Pilton again should the land negotiations become easier in the future. I dont think ME is that concerned anymore about it continuing there however. He wants his farm back for his retirement and has always maintained that the farm is more important than the festival to him

 

Edited January 17, 2017 by Pinhead
Triple oost

[Pinhead]

Apologies for triple post - have a shit phone

[Pinhead]

I doubt if having the offices at Pilton makes an awful lot of difference if running a national or international events management group either. Plus many of their permanent staff are local anyway.

[thewayiam]

16 minutes ago, FrankieX said:

I think a large part of the discount bands are willing to offer to play Glastonbury is not due to the name, history, location or whatever else that the festival currently has. It's the BBC deal. If you headline Glastonbury you get a live show broadcast on the most popular TV channel in the UK, tons of airplay on the most popular radio stations, and tons of free promotion across TV, radio and of course the BBC website. You might lose some money on the fee, but you likely gain it back in album sales. If the Eavii can get similar blanket coverage for Variety Bazaar (and I think that's a terrible name), I see no reason why it can't attract a similar level of performer to the current festival.

This is true but then R&L for example get a fair bit of live coverage from what I know still?

6 minutes ago, Pinhead said:

Who will blink first then during this brinkmanship? Eavis has to lay on an alternative event to proove that it is possible and profitable to the associate landowners, otherwise they will call his bluff. I would think then that 2018 will remain fallow and 2019 will see the new festival go ahead. The option then remains to run Glasto Fest at Pilton again should the land negotiations become easier in the future. I dont think ME is that concerned anymore about it continuing there however. He wants his farm back for his retirement and has always maintained that the farm is more important than the festival to him

 

This is it, unless Eavis can pull off another event somewhere else with a deal around someone else then the 22 will see no reason to back down and reduce how much they want. I don't think they would be bothered that much if it folded as they aren't suddenly going to go alright you win.

[Pinhead]

http://www.thefader.com/2017/01/17/glastonbury-2019-the-variety-bazaar-namechange

[Pinhead]

I wonder how much of it is money as well and not increasingly the annual disruption to their farms and the other agricultural developments that the'd like to realise as well but have to hold back on cos of the possible effect on the festival access and layout if they went ahead.