Michael Eavis eyes Longleat for new festival

Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis has said he hopes to hold a new music festival in Longleat in 2019.

It is a "fallow year" for Glastonbury, which takes a break every six years so as not to cause damage to Worthy Farm.

A spokesperson for Glastonbury confirmed plans for a new event are in the early stages.

On Wednesday, Eavis told the BBC: "We're talking to Longleat every day, that's the best site...that's my favourite site, really."

He said hosting it at Worthy Farm meant dealing with 22 different landowners, "which wasn't easy", although he said they had all be great over the years and "I'm not complaining about the landowners".

Longleat, near Bath, is home to Longleat Safari and Adventure Park, which was opened in 1966 as the first drive-through safari outside Africa.

A petting zoo, and a maze are also among the attractions of the Longleat estate, which is around 30 miles from Worthy Farm.

The site occasionally hosts musical events - Sir Elton John is to play live there this summer as part of the safari park's 50th anniversary celebrations.

Last month, Emily Eavis suggested any event held in Longleat would not be billed as the Glastonbury Festival.

"It's going to be the whole team behind the Glastonbury Festival but it's not going to be called Glastonbury," she said, explaining the event would be a "visual feast" featuring "larger-scale installations, as well as music".

"The main thing to set straight is that Glastonbury Festival itself will always be at Worthy Farm."

• The evolution of Glastonbury: From hippy haven to Britain's biggest gig