Festival
Divorcing his first wife Ruth in 1964, with whom he had three children, in 1969 Eavis and his second wife Jean Hayball visited the Bath Festival of Blues. Inspired by seeing the performance of Led Zeppelin, they hosted a free festival the following year. This developed into the Glastonbury Festival as it is known today. Jean died in 1999; since then their daughter Emily has taken a more active role in running the event. In common with his mother and his second wife, Eavis remains a regular Methodist chapel-goer. Eavis has since married his third wife, Liz.
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".
While having a radio interview for the BBC Eavis said he thought the booking of The Wombles (band) for Glastonbury 2011 was a mistake saying "I've got about 25 stages and managers and bookers for each of the stages. I can't control every single one of them but I do get cross about that kind of thing." Mike Batt the lead singer expressed disappointment at Eavis' comments, saying: 'It isn't very nice to think that you have been booked at a festival where you aren't welcome, but we hope Mr Eavis will pop along to the Avalon stage on Sunday to check out the reaction for himself'. Also as a joke the rest of the Wombles band said they would withdraw their offer to help clear up after the festival.
Read more about this topic: Michael Eavis
Famous quotes containing the word festival:
“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose: at the festival of unleavened bread, at the festival of weeks, and at the festival of booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed; all shall give as they are able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Deuteronomy 16:16,17.
“Don’t you know there are 200 temperance women in this county who control 200 votes. Why does a woman work for temperance? Because she’s tired of liftin’ that besotted mate of hers off the floor every Saturday night and puttin’ him on the sofa so he won’t catch cold. Tonight we’re for temperance. Help yourself to them cloves and chew them, chew them hard. We’re goin’ to that festival tonight smelling like a hot mince pie.”
—Laurence Stallings (1894–1968)
“The surest guide to the correctness of the path that women take is joy in the struggle. Revolution is the festival of the oppressed.”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)