Arise, Sir Michael Eavis - Glastonbury founder to receive knighthood
He is being knighted at Windsor Castle today (23 April)
Last updated 23rd Apr 2024
It's a huge day for the founder of Glastonbury Festival - as Michael Eavis is today (23 April) going to be knighted by the Princess Royal at Windsor Castle.
The 88-year-old is being honoured with a knighthood for services for music and charity - more than five decades after holding his first event now in the infamous Somerset countryside.
The dairy farmer might not have known it at the time, back in 1970, but his event has grown to become the largest greenfield festival in the world.
Annually, more than 200,000 festivalgoers descend on Worthy Farm every year - which hosts some of the biggest stars of music, alongside a plethora of celebrity visitors.
In 2023, some of the celebs who were spotted include Stormzy, Paul McCartney, Sean Dyche, Louis Theroux - and even Princess Beatrice.
Speaking to the official Glastonbury website earlier this year, when the New Year Honours List was announced, he said: "When I got the CBE in 2007, I went and told my mother, who was 95 at the time. And she just said, “Oh that’s a pity, I thought you would have got a K"!
"I have had a good life and managed to keep the Festival going for 53 years. It’s all gone so well in the end. It took 25 years for the public to catch on. We started with 500 people in 1970 and we’ve finished up with millions wanting to come every year now. That’s quite extraordinary isn’t it?
"I think William might do the ceremony. He’s made a few mentions of wanting to come to the Festival. So I’ll probably take a couple of tickets in my pocket!"
More than £3.7 million was donated to a range of charities and charitable causes in 2023 through Glastonbury Festival - whilst Sir Michael Eavis himself is still active in the running of the event.
More here: Glastonbury co-founder made Knight in New Years Honours