To celebrate the festival's 50th birthday, Emily and Michael Eavis have teamed up to present an authorised, immersive history of Glastonbury. Beginning in 1970, Glastonbury 50 will chart their journey from a patch of grass in Somerset to the largest outdoor green field event in the world.

As well as exploring the history of the festival in Emily and Michael's own words, the book will feature contributions from major international music stars, including the likes of Dolly Parton, Adele, Jay-Z, Chris Martin, Noel Gallagher, Billy Bragg, John Cooper Clarke and Peter Hook.

In an extract from the book shared on The Guardian, Michael recalls being inspired to start the festival after attending a blues festival at the Bath & West Showground with his late wife Jean:

'Jean and I agreed that we should go there on the Sunday, after chapel, and it was absolutely incredible. They had Led Zeppelin and Moody Blues and all these west coast American bands. It was the whole flower-power era, and all the girls and blokes looked amazing. It was a very lovey-dovey affair, and emotional, too. I’d never seen anything like it before – it just hit me for six. We were watching Moody Blues, who were playing Question, which is a belter of a song, and I turned to Jean and said, “I’m going to do one of these on the farm!” If I remember rightly, her reply was, “Don’t be silly, you’ve no idea how.”'

The book, with cover art by Stanley Donwood, is set to be released on October 31. A signed hardback edition of the book is available to pre-order now.

We're very pleased to announce the release of Glastonbury 50, our official book celebrating next year's 50th anniversary of the Festival, on 31 October 2019. Get more info - and pre-order a copy signed by Michael and Emily Eavis - from https://t.co/oPFiwN4Eu5 now. pic.twitter.com/b2mPbXGULn

— Glastonbury Festival (@glastonbury) June 5, 2019

This year's festival, which kicks off later this month, features headline sets from Stormzy, the Cure and the Killers.