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:
“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)
“Sabbath. A weekly festival having its origin in the fact that God made the world in six days and was arrested on the seventh.”
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914)
“Marry, I cannot show it in rhyme, I have tried; I can find no rhyme to “lady” but “baby”Man innocent rhyme; for “scorn,” “horn”Ma hard rhyme; for “school,” “fool”Ma babbling rhyme; very ominous endings. No, I was not born under a rhyming planet, nor I cannot woo in festival terms.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)