Glastonbury Festival made its big return this year for another five-day extravaganza. As the iconic event draws to a close, fans will already be looking ahead to next year.
However, in 2026, everything will be quiet at Worthy Farm because the massive annual festival will not be happening. Emily Eavis, the organiser of the Glastonbury Festival, announced to fans last summer that 2026 will be a “fallow year”. This means that Glastonbury will be going on a break for 724 days, but will be back in style for 2027. But what is a fallow year and why are they important?
A fallow year is a planned break that allows the farmland to grow uninterrupted. The last time this happened was in 2018. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, both the 2020 and 2021 festivals were cancelled. Since then, the festival has taken place every year.
Ms Eavis explained to Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw that Glastonbury was “due a fallow year”. Typically, the fallow years take place every five years of the festival.
She said on the BBC’s Sidetracked podcast: “We are due a fallow year. The fallow year is important because it gives the land a rest, and it gives the cows a chance to stay out for longer and reclaim their land.
“I think it’s important, I think it gives everybody time to just switch off and the public as well. It is a lot, isn’t it? Then you kind of go away for a bit and it feels lovely when you come back. And I think it’s quite good not [to] seem to be cashing in.”
Ms Eavis also said the year off is beneficial to the local area. She explained to the BBC: “Sustainability and the need to live in harmony with the land has always been vital to Glastonbury Festival. And I think it’s important because it just gives everybody a little time to just switch off.”
If you are already planning ahead for Glastonbury 2027, tickets will likely go on sale next year, either in October or November 2026, with a resale in April 2027.
You can watch the highlights of Glastonbury 2025 on BBC iPlayer.