Michael Eavis English dairy farmer, businessman Date of Birth: 17.10.1935 Country: Great Britain

Biography of Michael Eavis

Michael Eavis, an English dairy farmer, businessman, and founder of the famous Glastonbury Festival, was born on October 17, 1935, in the small town of Pilton, Somerset, United Kingdom. His mother was a school teacher, and his father was a Methodist preacher and owner of a small farm. Eavis attended Wells Cathedral School and later enrolled in Thames Nautical Training College, where he was then accepted into the British Merchant Navy Academy. His plans were to work in the merchant fleet and invest his earnings into his farm. However, his plans were changed when his father passed away in 1958, leaving Eavis with 150 acres of land and 60 cows. His dreams of the fleet were abandoned, and at the age of twenty, Eavis successfully managed his farm and significantly expanded it. During this time, he married his first wife, Ruth, and they had three children together. In 1964, they divorced, and Eavis remarried to Jean Hayball.

One day in 1969, Eavis and his second wife attended the Bath Festival, a music festival featuring blues and progressive music. Impressed by the event, Eavis was inspired to create a similar festival on his own farm. He wasted no time and organized the first Glastonbury Festival the following year near the Glastonbury Abbey. The inaugural festival attracted two thousand attendees and featured performances by T. Rex, Marc Bolan, Amazing Blondel, Quintessence, Sam Apple Pie, Steamhammer, Jethro Tull, Ian Anderson, Duster Bennett, Al Stewart, and Kate Christmas. By the next year, the festival grew to twelve thousand participants. After a brief hiatus, the festival became an annual event starting from 1981, with exceptions in 1988, 1991, and 1996.

Over time, the festival's attendance grew to two hundred thousand people, and its revenue approached half a million pounds sterling per event. In 1999, after his wife's death, Eavis's daughter, Emily, took over the organizational responsibilities. In 2006, Eavis was elected as the president of the Somerset Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Nowadays, he resides on his farm with his third wife.