UK's Glastonbury Festival cancelled again this year, organisers say

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Glastonbury Festival, the largest greenfield music festival in the world, has been cancelled for a second year running because of the COVID-19 pandemic, organisers said on Thursday.

"With great regret, we must announce that this year’s Glastonbury Festival will not take place, and that this will be another enforced fallow year for us," founder Michael Eavis and his daughter Emily said in a statement on Twitter.

"In spite of our efforts to move Heaven & Earth, it has become clear that we simply will not be able to make the Festival happen this year. We are so sorry to let you all down."

The festival was also cancelled last year because of the pandemic. More than 135,000 tickets had sold out in just 34 minutes for the event held on Eavis's dairy farm in southwest England.

It would have been the 50th anniversary of the festival, with former Beatle Paul McCartney due to headline.

"As with last year, we would like to offer all those who secured a ticket in October 2019 the opportunity to roll their 50 pound deposit over to next year, and guarantee the chance to buy a ticket for Glastonbury 2022."

Glastonbury Festival, famed for turning into a mud bath when it rains, was founded by dairy farmer Eavis, 83, and his late wife Jean in 1970, after they were inspired by the Bath Festival of Blues. He now organises the event with his daughter.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Alistair Smout and Bernadette Baum)