Michael Eavis | |
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 Eavis in June 2024 | |
| Born | Athelstan Joseph Michael Eavis 17 October 1935 Pilton, Somerset, England, UK |
| Occupations |
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| Known for | Co-creator of Glastonbury Festival |
| Children | 5, including Emily Eavis |
Sir Athelstan Joseph Michael Eavis CBE [1] [2] (born 17 October 1935) is an English dairy farmer and the co-creator of the Glastonbury Festival, which takes place at his farm in Pilton, Somerset.
Eavis was born in Pilton, Somerset [3] on 17 October 1935, [4] and grew up at Worthy Farm in the village. His father was a dairy farmer and also a Methodist local preacher, and his mother a school teacher. Eavis was educated at Wells Cathedral School, followed by the Thames Nautical Training College in Greenhithe, Kent, after which he joined the Union-Castle Line, part of the British Merchant Navy, as a trainee midshipman. His plan was to spend twenty years at sea, and return with a pension to help subsidise the income from the family farm.
After his father died when Eavis was 19, he inherited the family farm of 150 acres (61 ha) and 60 cows. [5] He worked at Mendip Colliery at Nettlebridge or New Rock colliery at Stratton-on-the-Fosse on the Somerset Coalfield for a couple of years to help supplement the income from the farm. [6] [7]
Eavis and his first wife Ruth had three children, Juliet, Rebecca and Jane, but divorced in 1964. [5] He next married Jean Hayball, with whom he had a son, Patrick, and a daughter, Emily. Jean died of cancer in 1999, and Eavis has since married his third wife, Liz. [5] In common with his parents and second wife, Eavis remains a practising Methodist, [8] although he has also stated that he is "not really bothered" about the existence of God. [9] He is a teetotaler and does not smoke. [5]
In 1969, Eavis and his second wife Jean visited the Bath Festival of Blues. Inspired by seeing the performance of Led Zeppelin, Eavis hosted the Pilton Pop Folk & Blues Festival in 1970. The following year a free festival, Glastonbury Fayre, was organised by Andrew Kerr and associates. It later developed into Glastonbury Festival. [10]
In 2010, the festival's 40th year, he appeared on the main stage at the festival with headline artist Stevie Wonder, to sing the chorus of the latter's "Happy Birthday".
Eavis has credited a number of influences for his political views, including traditions of nonconformity in his family, as well as his time as a miner, during which he was a member of the National Union of Mineworkers. [6] During the early 1980s he was involved in establishing a local branch of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and subsequently agreed to make the Glastonbury Festival a fundraiser for CND, as it was from 1981 to 1987. [11] [12]
After recovering from stomach cancer, Eavis stood as a candidate for the Labour Party in the 1997 general election in Wells, polling 10,204 votes. [13] In 2004, however, he suggested that disillusioned Labour voters should switch their vote to the Green Party in protest at the Iraq War, [14] though he returned to supporting the Labour Party in 2010. [15]
In 2005, Eavis was quoted in The Guardian as being a supporter of hunting. "I don't hunt myself, but I support the people who want to hunt. With all that's going on in the world, it was outrageous to ban it." [16] In 2006, he was appointed as President of the Somerset Chamber of commerce and Industry. [17]
In 2011, Eavis was quoted as lamenting the decline in political activity associated with the Glastonbury Festival. [18] He was guest editor of the Western Daily Press newspaper on Glastonbury's 'fallow' weekend, 23 June 2012. [19]
Eavis invited Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to appear at the 2017 festival, introducing the Run the Jewels' set. Eavis supported Corbyn's anti-nuclear and anti-austerity policies, saying "he's got something new and precious, and people are excited about it. He really is the hero of the hour." [20]
Eavis has apportioned profits from his Glastonbury Festival to support charitable causes, including local projects such as the restoration of the Tithe Barn, Pilton. [21] [22] In November 2008, during an appearance on the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs , Eavis stated that the Festival could never lose its licence due to the contribution it makes to the local economy. [23]
In 2009, Eavis starred in a short film to promote Somerset, commissioned by Inward Investment Agency Into Somerset. [24]
Eavis served as vice-president (alongside Rebecca Pow MP) of Somerset Wildlife Trust until June 2018: he stepped down following an online petition criticising his support for badger culling. In response to the petition, Eavis claimed that signatories "probably live in Kensington" and had "never seen a badger". [25]
Eavis holds honorary degrees from the University of Bath (Doctor of Arts honoris causa, 2004) [26] and the University of Bristol (Master of Arts honoris causa, 2006). [27] In the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to music. [1] [28] He was appointed Knight Bachelor in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to music and charity. [29]
In 2009 Eavis was nominated by Time magazine as one of the top 100 most influential people in the world. [30] In 2012, he was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from the University for the Creative Arts. [31]
In 2015 train operator First Great Western named High Speed Train powercar 43026 Michael Eavis. [32] After this was withdrawn, 802013 was named after him in April 2019. [33]
Eavis was awarded the Freedom of the Town of Glastonbury on 3 May 2022. [34]
In early 2024 Eavis was knighted at Windsor Castle, by the Princess Royal, for services to music and charity. [35]
Glastonbury is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, 23 miles (37 km) south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than 1 mile (2 km) across the River Brue from Street, which is now larger than Glastonbury.
The Glastonbury Festival is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most summers. In addition to contemporary music, the festival hosts dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret, and other arts. Leading pop and rock artists have headlined, alongside thousands of others appearing on smaller stages and performance areas. Films and albums have been recorded at the festival, and it receives extensive television and newspaper coverage.
Pilton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the A361 road in the Mendip district, 3 miles (5 km) south-west of Shepton Mallet and 6 miles (10 km) east of Glastonbury. The village has a population of 998. The parish includes the hamlets of West Compton, East Compton, Westholme, Beardly Batch and Cannards Grave.
Arabella Spencer-Churchill was an English charity founder, festival co-founder and fundraiser and a granddaughter of former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.
Wells was a constituency in Somerset in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Apart from between 2010–2015, Wells was represented by members of the Conservative Party since 1924.
Somerset is a county in the south-west of England. It is home to many types of music.
Michael Wayne Rosen is an English children's author, poet, presenter, political columnist, broadcaster, activist, and academic, who is a professor of children's literature in the Department of Educational Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. He has written over 200 books for children and adults. Select books include We're Going on a Bear Hunt (1989) and Sad Book (2004). He served as Children's Laureate from June 2007 to June 2009. He won the 2023 PEN Pinter Prize, awarded by English PEN, for his "fearless" body of work.
Glastonbury is a 2006 rockumentary film directed by Julien Temple which details the history of the Glastonbury Festival from 1970 to 2005. It is the third attempt to make a film about the festival. The film is made up of footage shot by Temple at the festival in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 as well as footage sent in by festival goers after a request on websites and newspapers for footage. Temple had initially only agreed to make a film of the 2002 festival after organiser Michael Eavis expressed concern that that would be the last year of the festival. Temple then realised that he wanted to make a film detailing the full history of the festival. The film also includes footage shot by Channel 4 and the BBC during their coverage of the festival since 1994.
Glastonbury Festival is a greenfield music and performing arts festival on farm land near Pilton, England. It was first held in 1970 and has been held in the majority of years since then in the summer. Its line-up is diverse, including music, comedy, circus and theatre, taking place on many different stages and performance areas.
Andrew Kerr was a co-founder of Glastonbury Fair, the 1971 forerunner of today's Glastonbury Festival. Kerr managed the festival site up to the mid-1980s, helping establish it as the UK's foremost music festival.
The 2008 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was held from 27 to 29 June 2008.
The 2009 Glastonbury Festival/Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was held from 24 to 29 June 2009.
The Tithe Barn at Cumhill Farm in Pilton, Somerset, England, was built in the 14th century as a tithe barn to hold produce for Glastonbury Abbey. It is a Grade I listed building and Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Emily Rose Eavis is co-organiser of the annual Glastonbury Festival, and the youngest daughter of the festival's founder and organiser, Michael Eavis, and his second wife Jean.
The 2010 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts took place in Pilton, Somerset, England in June 2010.
The Whitelake River is a small river on the Somerset Levels, England.
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It opposes military action that may result in the use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, and the building of nuclear power stations in the UK.
The 2016 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts took place between 22 and 26 June.
The 2017 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts took place between 21 and 25 June. The three headlining acts were Radiohead, Foo Fighters and Ed Sheeran with Barry Gibb performing in the iconic Legend's Slot.
William Harkin was a British architect and stage designer. Born in Liverpool he studied art and architecture there before embarking on a career in stage design. In 1970 he chanced upon Andrew Kerr while walking on Glastonbury Tor. The pair decided to hold a music festival and secured the agreement of Michael Eavis to hold the 1971 Glastonbury Fair, which later became the Glastonbury Festival. Harkin was responsible for designing the first Pyramid Stage, which became emblematic of the festival. Afterwards he carried out work for the Eden Project and taught at the Wimbledon College of Art.
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