Glasto 'loses heart'

Lost Vagueness pulls out

03 Feb 2008 - Some sad news for Glastonbury revellers and fans of the legendary Lost Vagueness area.

After 10 years, what many have called the heart of Glastonbury, 'the festival within the festival', will not be taking place.

Lost Vagueness had grown from a small casino at the festival, to a massive area with eight venues and 1,500 performers.

The news comes as registration for the ticketing process began on Friday morning. Hundreds of thousands of hopefuls will be submitting their details in a bid to get to the biggest music festival in the country.

However, a statement on the Lost Vagueness official website states: "After 10 monumental years, the 'festival within the festival' which is Lost Vagueness will not be happening at Glastonbury 2008."

The area is famous for being a 'getwaway' from the music and mayhem of the main festival site, but it has a quirky kind of mayhem all of its own.

Jake Shears, from the Scissor Sisters, has called it heaven in the past. One year it was rumoured that Kate Moss and Pete Doherty got married there. It's famous for a colourful array of burlesque, trapeze and striptease, and has long been seen by some people as the heart of Glastonbury festival.

The details as to exactly why Lost Vagueness has pulled out are unclear for legal reasons, but founder Roy Gurvitz insists he has been forced to walk away after disagreements with the organisers, see his full statement below.

"We... hope this announcement won't disappoint too many of you" - Roy Gurvitz

The official announcement:

"After ten monumental years, the 'festival within the festival', which is Lost Vagueness, will NOT be happening at Glastonbury 2008.

It is rumoured that the vacuum created by the Lost Vagueness departure, will be filled by some ex Lost Vagueness crew and others, attempting to re-create a similar production in the same area.

In the absence of any Glastonbury festival press release on this matter, we do not want you to be misled by this omission.

Reproduction of our shows, without our permission or endorsement has been tried before, and however flattering these imitations may be, they will never come close to the real thing.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our fans for their continued support throughout the years who have followed our shows at the festival, and hope this announcement will not disappoint too many of you.

To allay that disappointment, Lost Vagueness will be participating in other events and ventures around the country. Announcements will be made shortly."

Glastonbury wouldn't comment on the issue, or on the proposal that a similar programme of events will take its place.