The Worthy Farm Reserve Cheddar cheese is here and the chance to win tickets to the next Glastonbury Festival.
Glastonbury Festival now has its very own cheddar cheese for the first time.
The Worthy Farm-held event has just launched the Worthy Farm Reserve Cheddar cheese which has been created using milk from the dairy herd that graze on the Festival site all year round, and is set to debut exclusively in Co-op stores across the UK later this month (Feburary 2021).
According to an official release, the cheese is a collaboration with Somerset’s Wyke Farms, known for having a cultivated, well-established reputation for sustainable farmhouse cheese making.
🚨 New Product Announcement 🚨 @coopuk has been working with @wykefarms & @glastonbury to create an exclusive new cheese, made using milk from the herd on Worthy Farm. Plus you have the opp to win tickets to the next festival with every pack purchased https://t.co/zfR8vSVTlB
— Alasdair Fowle (@alasdair_fowle) February 10, 2021
Michael Eavis revealed the planned cheese back in May of last year [2020], during an interview with Ring O’Bells Radio’s Miles Leonard for #IsolationStation.
In the interview, concurring with the fact that he sees himself a farmer first and foremost, and then a festival organiser second – the award-winning dairy farmer was asked about the farm’s milk & cheese production, just to reveal that with the help from a couple of local farms the milk produced at Worthy Farm will be turned into “a festival cheese”.
there is now a Glastonbury cheese pic.twitter.com/TJTpo4RfBN
— Josh Barrie (@joshbythesea) February 10, 2021
In 2019, Co-op was selected as Glastonbury Festival’s first-ever retail partner and established a bespoke, fully operational 6,000 square foot food store at the festival.
Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis said: “About 100 years ago, my grandfather decided to make the milk at Worthy Farm into Caerphilly cheese. Now, after 50 years of our recent festival history, our farm milk is being made into cheese once again by Wyke Farms and will be sold exclusively at Co-op stores across the UK.
“We’re thrilled that we can work together as a collective, with Co-op and Wyke Farms, to bring this tasty reserve cheddar to households across the UK.”
Joanne Wadsworth, Co-op cheese buyer, said: “Co-op is well-known for its support of British farmers and producers, plus our on-going relationship and shared values with the Glastonbury Festival makes our stores the perfect home for Worthy Farm Reserve Cheddar.”
Perhaps even more exciting than the cheese for some would-be Glasto-goers – a launch promotion will give Co-op members and customers the chance to win tickets to the festival when it returns next year.
Looking closer at the cheese wrapping, one eagle-eyed Glasto fan was quick to spot the sticker on the cheddar with the writing: “Win Tickets to Glastonbury” – which could perhaps mean an opportunity for one or more lucky individuals to win a golden ticket to Glastonbury 2022.
Worthy Farm cheese and what’s that sticker say? https://t.co/srwvRkPlAs pic.twitter.com/mdi22zrJXV
— The Glasto Thingy (@TheGlastoThingy) February 10, 2021
Recap:
Glastonbury was cancelled last month (Thursday, 21 January), for the second consecutive year, due to ongoing concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
The organisers confirmed the cancellation of the Festival’s 2021 edition in a statement posted via their official channels, saying:
“With great regret, we must announce that this year’s Glastonbury Festival will not take place, and that this will be another enforced fallow year for us.
“In spite of our efforts to move Heaven & Earth, it has become clear that we simply will not be able to make the Festival happen this year. We are so sorry to let you all down.
“As with last year, we would like to offer all those who secured a ticket in October 2019 the opportunity to roll their £50 deposit over to next year, and guarantee the chance to buy a ticket for Glastonbury 2022. We are very appreciative of the faith and trust placed in us by those of you with deposits, and we are very confident we can deliver something really special for us all in 2022!
“We thank you for your incredible continued support and let’s look forward to better times ahead.
With love, Michael & Emily”
Up until the very last moment, organisers had been working diligently in order to try and make it possible for the festival to go ahead safely this year.
Late last year (December 16, 2020), in an interview to the BBC, Eavis said: “We’re doing everything we can on our end to plan and prepare, but there are still just so many unknowns and factors which are completely out of our control. What we definitely can’t afford to risk is getting too far into the process of next year, only for it to be snatched away from us again. We lost millions this year, and we can’t risk that happening again.”
In the same interview, Eavis added that if the Festival could not happen in its traditional form, the organisers will consider inviting artists to perform on the farm for a series of live streams.
Echoing her words from last year – last month (Friday, 22 January), while talking to The Guardian, Eavis discussed plans for 2021, confirming she was still working on Glastonbury-related projects, including possible live-streamed events.
“A lot of big artists have been in touch offering to perform for us at the farm, so we’re doing everything we can to make that happen. We would love to build a show that can be watched at home by people all over the world, and of course it would be a useful way for us to make some very welcome income,” she said.
Following the 2021 Festival cancellation announcement – Glastonbury founder and father of Emily Eavis, Michael Eavis, revealed last month (Thursday, 21 January) that they were “considering” a smaller event for September, saying: “I would like to do something smaller somewhere around the anniversary date of when we started, which was the 18th of September 1970”.
Glastonbury was set to celebrate its 50th-anniversary last summer (June 2020) – with headliners in Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and Paul McCartney – but was forced to cancel the 2020 instalment due to the coronavirus crisis just a week after the lineup was announced in March of 2020.
Now with also the 2021 edition of the Festival being cancelled, MPs have spoken out in the wake of Glastonbury’s cancellation to warn that the future of festivals could be threatened.
“The news that the UK has lost the Glastonbury Festival for a second year running is devastating,” said DCMS Committee Chair Julian Knight MP. “We have repeatedly called for Ministers to act to protect our world-renowned festivals like this one with a Government-backed insurance scheme. Our plea fell on deaf ears and now the chickens have come home to roost.
“The jewel in the crown will be absent but surely the Government cannot ignore the message any longer – it must act now to save this vibrant and vital festivals sector.”
Glastonbury 2022 is set to take place at its natural home in Worthy Farm, Pilton, Somerset, from 22nd – 26th June 2022
