Press Release - 22 May 2002

Glastonbury Festival - "Give Us Respect"

"We've been running for 32 years, we've got the best reputation, and we're just asking people to respect the fact that they shouldn't come here without a ticket this year," Glastonbury Festival Organiser Michael Eavis said today (22 May) at Worthy Farm, Pilton. He was speaking at the official launch of a new fence specially designed to keep Glastonbury Festival alive for many years to come. Former Clash frontman Joe Strummer said that his biggest concern was about safety. "The festival is a celebration of life, about diversity of music and a commitment to good causes," he said. "Nobody wants a repeat of what happened at Roskilde."

Also present were representatives from the festival management team, Mendip District Council, Avon and Somerset Police, and the three main organisations which benefit financially from the event. John Sauven of Greenpeace said: "This festival is unique in the world. It supports our work in the Amazon and Brazil to save the rainforests from international logging companies, in Bhopal to help the victims of the worst chemical disaster ever, and at the Earth Summit this autumn to ensure that two million people living without electricity are supplied in future from renewable sources." Roger James of Oxfam said that the festival had raised £705,000 since 1993 to fund campaigns on education, fair trade and conflict resolution. "We know that we can make a real difference," he said. "The last festival raised enough money to support Oxfam's entire programme in Haiti." Sharon Brand-Self of WaterAid said that the last festival raised £52,000, which helped more than 4,000 people in Ghana to get clean water and sanitation. "We can honestly say that people's lives depend on support from Glastonbury." Engineers have spent the past eighteen months assessing the problems and technical requirements of protecting the 800 acre site. The result is a 4½ mile long barrier which will completely enclose the festival. If the festival does not go ahead in future years it will be the end of this unique event - Glastonbury is the only festival to reject overt commercialism and direct its profits towards providing vital support for aid projects in the developing world and saving the planet. Note to Editors: Donations from Glastonbury Festival in 2000 included: -Over £50,000 to support local schools -Over £92,000 to local carnival clubs -£40,000 to Pilton Village Medieval Fayre -Over £86,000 to local charities, sports clubs, community activities and churches -£22,000 to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament -Major donations to Greenpeace, Oxfam and WaterAid in support of environmental action and international aid projects Total donations in 2000 - £703,000 Total donations 1998 to 2000 - £1.7 million