A NEW book telling the story of the Glastonbury Festival will be released later this year - ahead of the event's 50th anniversary.

The first festival took place in 1970 and the book, Glastonbury50, from festival founder Michael Eavis and organiser Emily Eavis, will hit the shelves on October 31.

It promises stories from the pair detailing the behind-the-scenes story of the Somerset festival.

They will be joined by a host of big-name contributors including Adele, JAY-Z, Dolly Parton, Chris Martin, Julie Christie, Noel Gallagher, Jarvis Cocker, Suzanne Vega, Lars Ulrich and Guy Garvey.

"Working on this book has been a fantastic project for me and my dad in the fallow year and in the build-up to this year’s festival," said Emily.

"With our 50th anniversary fast approaching, we felt now was the time to put all of our memories and stories together in one place.

"It’s been a total joy to look back through piles of old photo albums and scrapbooks and to reflect upon what it meant at the time, and the incredible evolution of the event.

"I hope people who’ve been over the years will be able to reminisce and get a flavour of the rich history of Glastonbury through five amazing decades.


READ MORE: Glastonbury Festival news and updates


"It’s also been a real honour to have had so many great writers, artists and photographers willing to get involved in helping us to give the full picture."

Glastonbury50 is published in hardback by Trapeze, priced £30. Signed copies are available for pre-order from Waterstones now.