When is Glastonbury's next fallow year and why does the festival have them?

Hundreds of thousands of music fans camped out at Worthy Farm in Somerset last weekend for this year’s Glastonbury Festival.

Coldplay, Dua Lipa, SZA, Shania Twain, LCD Soundsystem, Idles, Disclosure, The Streets and Jungle were among the acts performing this year, with hundreds more joining them over the three full days of music from Friday to Sunday.

The UK’s biggest music festival has been held at the end of June for the last three years, but it could soon be taking a break. Traditionally, Glastonbury runs for four or five years in a row before taking a year off in what is known as a fallow year.

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Fallow years were held in 2012 and 2018. The festival then had to take two years off during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

Organiser Emily Eavis has confirmed that another festival will take place in 2025, but 2026 could be a fallow year, she said.

Speaking recently on the BBC’s Sidetracked podcast, Emily was asked whether she had any acts booked for next year’s festival. “I have a vague idea in my head of who is going to be doing it next year,” she told hosts Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw, before adding: “Then we might do a fallow year after that. It's looking like we are due a fallow year.”

The news may be disappointing to festival goers hoping for another few runs before a year away, especially after two years off due to Covid, but Emily insists the fallow years are “important” for several reasons.

Glastonbury takes place on a working dairy farm and the 900 acre site is home to the farm’s herds of cows when the festival isn’t taking place. During the weekend of the