Glastonbury organisers are to reopen ticket registration this afternoon after the summer festival failed to sell out on the weekend.

Tickets for the three-day-long Somerset event, to be headlined by American hip-hop star Jay-Z, went on sale on Saturday morning, but of the 137,500 available, only 100,000 sold.

Glastonbury founder, Michael Eavis, said his decision to reopen ticket registration had been greeted with enthusiasm.

“We’ve had a lot of enquiries from people asking if they can register, especially now they realise it’s still possible to buy tickets.”

In previous years, Glastonbury tickets have sold out within hours, and critics say choosing a hip-hop rather than rock headliner could have contributed to the decline in ticket sales.

Following the February announcement that the rap mogul would headline Glastonbury, music websites were flooded with fans complaining he was not a good fit with the festival.

Echoing the opinions of many, one festival fan posted on music magazine NME's site: "The average Glastonbury goer probably doesn't like rap. I think it will put off a lot more people than it attracts."

But Eavis attributes the drop in sales to poor weather at the festival in recent years.

"I think three years of mud may have taken their toll, but even so, 100,000 isn't bad."

Revellers at last year’s festival, at Eavis’s Worthy Farm, endured torrential rain and, despite extensive new flood defence barriers and engineering works, muddy conditions.

The 2005 festival was hit by storms and 300 tents were washed away.

The full line-up for this year’s June 27- June 29 festival is yet to be announced, but Verve, Kings of Leon, Hot Chip, British Sea Power and veteran music legends Leonard Cohen and Neil Diamond have all been confirmed.

Registration will open at 4pm today at www.glastonburyregistration.co.uk.

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