It has just been announced that one of the co-founders of the Glastonbury Festival, Arabella Churchill, has died at the tragically young age of 58.

It has just been announced that one of the co-founders of the Glastonbury Festival, Arabella Churchill, has died at the tragically young age of 58.

Arabella, who ran the Festival's Theatre and Cabaret fields in charge of 1,500 circus and theatre performers, an army of jugglers, sword swallowers, contortionists and fire breathers as well as serious actors, dancers, street performers and some of the biggest names in comedy, co-promoted the 1971 Glastonbury Festival and also ran the Childrens World charity.

Arabella, Winston Churchill's grand daughter, had been instrumental in making Glastonbury the diverse, vibrant and performer driven festival it is today. Michael Eavis has said this "Arabella died at 3am this morning (20th December). It is with a great weight of grief and sadness to have to pass this message on to so many of you who have known her and worked with her for many years. She has been a stalwart and one of the most valuable members of our team for the last 37 years. Her energy, vitality, and great sense of morality and social responsibility have given her a place in our Festival history second to none. May her place in the great eternity be always peaceful and perhaps the mysteries of the heavens will accommodate her spirit forever." Our thoughts are with her second husband, Haggis, at this sad sad time.