Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis knighted at Windsor Castle

Watch the moment Michael Eavis is knighted by the Princess Royal at Windsor Castle.

Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis was knighted by the Princess Royal at Windsor Castle on Tuesday 23 April for his services to music and charity.

The 88-year-old dairy farmer hosted the first festival on Worthy Farm in Somerset, in 1970 and Glastonbury Festival is still held there today.

It is the largest greenfield festival in the world, drawing around 200,000 people each year, the biggest musical talent and a range of celebrity guests.

In an interview with the official Glastonbury website, Sir Michael said his daughter Emily, with whom he runs the festival, had brought him the official letter about his knighthood, adding: “I was really surprised to see it, actually. Why did they choose me, I wonder?

“What can I say, really? I’ve done quite a lot of stuff in my life and I’ve always been fairly sure that I was doing the right thing.”

Greenpeace, Oxfam and WaterAid all receive donations from the festival and the event aims to raise around £2 million per year, which also helps hundreds of local causes.

In 2023, it donated more than £3.7 million to a range of charitable causes and campaigns including homelessness organisation Centrepoint, food redistributors Fareshare, several refugee charities and mental health charity Mind.

Glastonbury Festival 2024 runs from Wednesday 26 June to Sunday 30 June.

British-Albanian singer Dua Lipa, country pop superstar Shania Twain, rock band Coldplay and American singer SZA are among the first major acts announced.

Sir Michael is still active in the running of the festival, but his daughter Emily and her husband take full responsibility for the line-up.