In a shocking interview with The Guardian Michael Eavis Glastonbury’s organiser not only predicted the demise of Glastonbury within the next three years but he also let slip that 40% of Reading and Leeds tickets remain on sale.

It must be made clear that at this stage Festival Republic have yet to respond to Eavis’ claims, but Strictly Reading And Leeds are looking to confirm the rumours, but his critiques of festival culture continues ring true.

Eavis made bold claims about Festival Republic’s heavy hitters, saying that Latitude had 1,000 tickets left to sell a week before the event and that 40% of  Reading and Leeds Festival tickets were still on sale.

The Glastonbury organiser laid the blame on the economy, foreign festivals, an overcrowded market and a lack of fresh acts while pointing out that the sold out Glastonbury 2008 lost £22 million and nearly bankrupted the farmer.

Strictly Our Opinion: This is sad news for both Reading and Leeds Festival and festival fans across the UK. Early in the year in our piece Why Reading And Leeds Haven’t Sold Out we touched on many of the reason that Michael Eavis is now highlighting, and once again we return to the troubling issue at hand: in a digital age where the future is selling less of more, can big wide reaching festivals survive?