Many saw it coming, but today (March 18) the inevitable was confirmed. Glastonbury 2020 will be cancelled due to the threat from the international pandemic of the COVID-19 outbreak.

TLC were announced last week on March 12 as part of the festival’s exciting 2020 line-up to celebrate it’s 50th anniversary since it first began. Other acts set to perform included Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Diana Ross, Paul McCartney, Kelis, Pet Shop Boys, The Isley Brothers, Tones And I, Lana Del Rey and more.

Organisers Emily and Michael Eavis posted a statement this morning, explaining that despite announcing the line-up for what would have been the 50 anniversary event last week, the festival will now not go ahead.

Chilli had hinted that TLC could be making their Glastonbury debut when she spoke to the BBC last November. When the topic of Glastonbury 2020 was brought up, Chilli said, “Is that what you heard? I heard that too. That’s what I’m hearing”.

Their statement in full reads as follows:

“We are so sorry to announce this, but Glastonbury 2020 will have to be cancelled, and this will be an enforced fallow year for the Festival.

Clearly this was not a course of action we hoped to take for our 50th anniversary event, but following the new government measures announced this week – and in times of such unprecedented uncertainty – this is now our only viable option.

We very much hope that the situation in the UK will have improved enormously by the end of June. But even if it has, we are no longer able to spend the next three months with thousands of crew here on the farm, helping us with the enormous job of building the infrastructure and attractions needed to welcome more than 200,000 people to a temporary city in these fields.

We would like to send our sincere apologies to the 135,000 people who have already paid a deposit for a Glastonbury 2020 ticket. The balance payments on those tickets were due at the beginning of April and we wanted to make a firm decision before then.

We understand that it is not always easy to secure a Glastonbury ticket, which is why we would like to offer all those people the chance to roll their £50 deposit over to next year, and guarantee the opportunity to buy a ticket for Glastonbury 2021. Those who would prefer a refund of that £50 will be able to contact See Tickets in the coming days in order to secure that.

This option will remain available until September this year. For those who are happy to roll their deposit over, that will happen automatically. Further information – including details on rolling over coach packages, official accommodation bookings and local Sunday tickets – will be added to our website in the coming days.

The cancellation of this year’s Festival will no doubt come as a terrible blow to our incredible crew and volunteers who work so hard to make this event happen. There will also inevitably be severe financial implications as a result of this cancellation – not just for us, but also the Festival’s charity partners, suppliers, traders, local landowners and our community.

We were so looking forward to welcoming you all for our 50th anniversary with a line-up full of fantastic artists and performers that we were incredibly proud to have booked. Again, we’re so sorry that this decision has been made. It was not through choice. But we look forward to welcoming you back to these fields next year and until then, we send our love and support to all of you.”

A number of high profile sporting events and music festivals have also been postponed recently. Coachella and Stagecoach will now take place in October, following the coronavirus crisis. Refunds are being made available to those unable to attend the rescheduled dates.

It is currently unclear which other TLC shows will still be going ahead as planned this summer, or which, if any, will also be affected by the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to Glastonbury on June 28, TLC have two other UK shows booked: O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire (June 29) and Love Supreme Jazz Festival (July 4). Followed by spot dates across Europe, including Iceland and Denmark.

T-Boz said future postponements will be announced quickly, if necessary, following the government recommended quarantines to contain the virus outbreak from spreading further. We’ll be sure to keep you updated as things progress.

Stay safe and look after yourselves!