Glastonbury’s fallow years allow Worthy Farm and the surrounding land a break from the physical impact of staging a huge temporary city. They also reset expectation: no line-up churn, no ticket frenzy, no attempt to manufacture a substitute edition.
For the local area, a fallow year changes the seasonal rhythm. Businesses do not see the same festival-week spike and roads avoid the same temporary pressures, while the organisation gets space to prepare for the next cycle.
Our verdict: 4/5 for restraint. Sometimes the most sustainable festival decision is not holding one.