Geldof goes to Glastonbury

Live 8 appeal made to festival crowd

25 June 05 - Bob Geldof addressed Glastonbury this afternoon, inviting the 100,000-plus festival-goers before him to link hands in support of the Make Poverty History campaign.

It's part of the Live 8 campaign to put political pressure on the G8 summit in Gleneagles next month to persuade its leaders to agree to debt relief and greater help for Africa.

Bob Geldof told the crowd he hoped they would join the demonstration in Edinburgh on 2 July.

Speaking on the Pyramid Stage between sets by the Kaiser Chiefs and Ash, he said: "This now is the final leg of the long walk to justice. Glastonbury begins that last push. And if you believe like I do that you can change the world, that you can tilt it a little bit in favour of those who don't have this then I will see you in Edinburgh on Saturday or in the parks of Britain or in the cities of the world. And on 6 July we will face down those eight men who can do this thing."

He continued: "It is not a question of money. We live in a world of surplus. To die of want is an intellectual absurdity and it is morally repulsive."

""We've been doing this for so long that we've got to finish the job".
Michael Eavis

Organiser Michael Eavis, who hosts the festival at his farm near Pilton, Somerset, said Bob Geldof's appearance will make a "serious impact" on the Africa campaign.

The whole affort was being filmed from the air to "show people around the world people at Glastonbury are concerned about the issue", Mr Eavis said.

He added that the festival had been supporting similar campaigns for a decade and "we've been doing this for so long that we've got to finish the job".

Geldof approached organisers and asked to appear to "talk about his favourite subject".



Bill Overton and Jody Thompson