Geldof takes anti-poverty bid to Glastonbury

Michael Eavis (left) joins hands with Live8 organiser Bob Geldof at Glastonbury today

Michael Eavis (left) joins hands with Live8 organiser Bob Geldof at Glastonbury today

Bob Geldof has addressed crowds at the UK's Glastonbury music festival today urging them to unite behind his anti-poverty campaign.

All other performances stopped at around 4pm to allow Geldof to speak on behalf of the Make Poverty History bid.

Organiser Michael Eavis joined with Geldof on stage to ask everyone to link hands for an aerial photo to show their support.

Geldof told music fans to imaging half of the crowd dying today and the other half tomorrow to demonstrate the scale of poverty in the world.

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"We are very happy to be a part of this campaign," he said.

Next Saturday Geldof will co-ordinate eight music concerts around the world, known as Live 8, to raise awareness of poverty in Africa prior to a meeting of the world's leading industrialised nations at a summit in Scotland from July 6th to 8th.

Geldof organised the concerts 20 years after his Live Aid sensation which raised money to help the starving in Ethiopia.

The Glastonbury festival, the highlight of the UK summer rock scene, opened later than expected last night after torrential rains turned the campsite in the southwest of England into a quagmire.

Glastonbury, which began in 1970, has grown from humble beginnings to become one of the biggest events in the British music calendar, attracting fans and bands from all over the world.

Organisers said they have sold all 112,000 tickets for the annual three-day festival.

Agencies