Glastonbury will receive a grant of nearly £1million as part of a major cash injection to keep the arts sector afloat, it was revealed yesterday.

The festival will receive £900,000 from the Culture Recovery Fund. The money is part of £400million in government grants and loans for the industry.

The festival was cancelled for two years due to the pandemic – but has been criticised for planning a livestream in May on the first weekend music venues can reopen.

Its organisers Michael and Emily Eavis said they were ‘extremely grateful to be offered a significant award’.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said the money will help the event this year and carry it through to next year. More than 2,700 organisations have been offered grants and loans in the latest announcement.

About £300million in grants has been awarded to recipients including the National Football Museum in Manchester and Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland.

More than £100million in loans has been offered to organisations including the National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the money will help ‘our cultural gems plan for reopening and to thrive in the better times ahead’.

Recipients of new loans also included the English Heritage Trust and The Lowry, a theatre in Salford. A further £6.5million was awarded to independent cinemas, including £138,333 for East Finchley’s Phoenix Cinema in London, Britain’s oldest cinema in continuous use.

It brings the Government’s total investment across grants, capital and repayable finance from the fund to more than £1.2billion.