How many people attended the first Glastonbury?
Glastonbury is such a mammoth entity, not just on a musical level, but within society at large, that it’s hard to remember a time before it ever existed. Today, the average rookie punter is more likely to see pigs fly than get their hands on a ticket, but back in the days of its inception, some 55 years ago now, it’s fair to say that the demand was a little bit less storming.
Well, even that might frankly be putting it kindly, as the first ever Worthy Farm festival, in ticket sales terms, was… a disaster. What makes it even worse is that the original iteration of Glastonbury was meant to pull founder Michael Eavis out of debt, but only ended up plunging him further into its depths, so it’s a miracle he even had the foresight to continue, let alone to the scale it stands today.
Hoping for a capacity of 5,000, but in the end only selling just over one-fifth of that with roughly 1,500 attendees, the first ever Glastonbury had all the makings of a horror show. Thankfully, however, what saved it was the music. Headlined by Marc Bolan’s Tyrannosaurus Rex – subbed in as a match-winning replacement for The Kinks, who had to pull out at the last minute – the first festival may not have hosted many people, but at least they all had a good time.
Eavis reassured the masses afterwards: “The incredible response I have had from the people that did come has wiped out the gloom of not managing to make a profit,” he said. “There is no question of my having to sell the farm or any part of it. Although I don’t know exactly what my loss will be of yet, I can say it will not be too great.” As such, this roaring success was the fire in his belly to keep going despite the challenges – and thank God he did, because then we wouldn’t be here today.
What is the current Glastonbury capacity?
Some half a century down the line from that first fated festival, Glastonbury has gradually snowballed into a behemoth, seeming hellbent on growing more and more every year, even to the point it’s beyond comprehension. These days, it can hold approximately 210,000 people across a massive site spanning 1500 acres, and there’s no sign of any downsizing.
These mammoth figures only continue to grow year on year. For example, there are an extra 30,000 revellers that pass through the gates than there were in 2014, and the numbers are even up 7% on 2022, the first time the festival was staged again after the pandemic. In one sense, it’s admirable that Glastonbury never rests on its laurels and only ever wants to expand, but equally, that could also be its downfall – it’s bursting at the seams.
After mass complaints last year of severe overcrowding, it will be telling what the festival has implemented for 2025 to prevent such problems from becoming a blight on what has so far remained a beacon of live music. Of course, the true figures on this year’s Glastonbury numbers will only come to light after the event, but by recent standards, let’s hope everyone going is prepared to feel like sardines.
