Michael Eavis, creator of the much-loved and world-famous Glastonbury Festival, is to be honoured with the 23rd Music Industry Trusts Award (MITS).
This prestigious annual music award is presented to Michael in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the UK’s live music industry and many charitable causes. The Award will be presented on Monday 3 November at a gala dinner in aid of Nordoff Robbins and the BRIT Trust.
The idea for Michael to stage a festival took seed in 1970 when he snuck into the Blues Festival at the Bath & West Showground and saw Led Zeppelin. Michael was so inspired that the very next day he began booking bands to play on his own farm, Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, which had been owned by his family for a century.
The very first festival at Worthy Farm, named the Pilton Pop, Blues & Folk Festival, took place in September 1970. Headlined by Marc Bolan’s Tyrannosaurus Rex, 1,500 tickets were sold for £1 each. By 1981 it was officially called the Glastonbury Festival and began its attachment with charitable causes. Since then Glastonbury has grown into the largest and most prestigious greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world. It has seen legendary performances from the likes of David Bowie, Radiohead, R.E.M., Coldplay, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Beyoncé, Jay Z and The Rolling Stones.
Michael Eavis said: “When I set out on this crazy hippy trip 44 years ago, little did I know how this roller coaster would run. But now I have to pinch myself every morning when I wake up to the excitement of another day - heading up a team of the most creative artists anywhere in the world.”
Tickets are available from www.mitsaward.co.uk
