Glastonbury in Numbers: The economics of the music festival
Running from June 21st-25th, Glastonbury Festival 2023 is nearly upon us. Almost every year since its inaugural edition in 1970, people have flocked to the Somerset festival to let loose and enjoy a cultural bonanza like no other. For decades, the festival has boasted an unmatched selection of some of the most culturally significant established artists and exciting newcomers, attracting hundreds of thousands to the sprawling Pilton site.
It is both a modern and progressive reflection of the best culture on offer, whilst also being deeply tied to the mysticism of the area’s past. Reflecting the musical range delivered, this year’s headliners are Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Elton John, with other acts including Weyes, Hot Chip and Queens of the Stone Age bolstering the splendour away from the main stage. Of course, these names are just the tip of the iceberg.
One of the annual highlights of British culture, the festival is notable for its distinctly countercultural ethos. Whilst Glastonbury is not as outwardly hippie as it was in its embryonic years, with some criticisms of commercialism forthcoming, vestiges of these old traditions are still to be found, particularly in the Green Fields area, which features sections such as Green Futures, the Stone Circle, and the Healing Field. Demonstrating this connection to the counterculture, founder Michael Eavis hosted the first edition, then Pilton Festival, after watching Led Zeppelin play an open-air show at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music.
Famously, the festival was held intermittently between 1970 and 1981 and has been held almost annually since, except for the “fallow years”, which usually occur on a five-year basis, taken to give the land, local populace and organisers a break.
The Glastonbury schedule has been slightly different as of late, with 2018 a fallow year before resuming proceedings the following year. Since then, though, two years have been skipped due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the odds, in 2021, the organisers still worked to do what they could and produced the film Live at Worthy Farm, featuring performances from Coldplay, Damon Albarn and Haim. It also saw Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead debut their new project, The Smile, alongside Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner.
An undoubted cultural behemoth, today we’re looking at Glastonbury from a different perspective, the economic one. We’ve answered fans’ questions about the price of the festival, ranging from the cost of securing tickets to how much you’ll have to budget for pints.
The economics of Glastonbury Festival:
How much are Glastonbury tickets?
As with any festival, there are various ticketing options at Glastonbury, with General Admission full weekend tickets – valid from Wednesday, June 21st to Sunday, June 25th – costing £335 with an additional £5 booking fee. In addition to the tickets, coach travel options went on sale at 6pm GMT on November 3rd, 2022, with general admission then released at 9am three days later. It is possible to book up to six tickets per transaction by paying a £50 deposit per person when tickets go on sale.
As has been the case with many previous editions, hopeful attendees are required to register before purchasing tickets, with the chance to do so closing at 5pm on Monday, October 31st, 2022. The festival stipulated at the time that there would be no other opportunity to submit/re-submit a registration until the sale of tickets opened in November. In another repeat of previous years, tickets were sold exclusively on the joint Glastonbury and See Tickets website.
With some fans reacting with dismay to Glastonbury’s 19% annual rise in ticket prices, co-organiser Emily Eavis responded to the criticism on Twitter in October 2022. She wrote: “I wanted to post about the 2023 Glastonbury ticket price, which was announced today. We have tried very hard to minimise the increase in price on the ticket but we’re facing enormous rises in the costs of running this vast show, while still recovering from the huge financial impact of two years without a festival because of Covid-19.”
Continuing, Eavis said: “The £50 deposit on ticket sales day in November will be the same as ever, with the balance not due until April.”
How much does it cost to put on Glastonbury?
Due to the broader economic status of the world, this is a figure that is always changing, with some economic sources reporting that it costs around £40million to hold Glastonbury. At the moment, all British festivals are grappling with rising inflation. For instance, in 2020, the average UK rate sat at roughly 1%, but in late 2022 it rose to over 9%, festival costs have been rising in line with that.
There are also supply chain issues, with a noted shortage of technical and security staff, many of whom retrained in other industries when the 2020 pandemic hit. Elsewhere, British touring infrastructure companies have moved to Europe, citing Brexit rules around equipment transportation and visa issues. This makes the live music industry in the UK one of the hardest hit sectors in the world.
Additionally, there has been a significant rise in prominent musicians cancelling shows and tours, admitting that it has become an economically and personally untenable prospect. The pandemic and the cost of living crisis underpin such decisions, with audience demand plummeting due to the same factors. Presently, tickets are more of a luxury item than anything. This has been exacerbated by a lack of government funding in the area.
In September 2022, UK Music, a body representing artists, labels and the live industry, called for a support package including tax relief, a VAT cut for struggling venues, and a streamlining of restrictions for workers and touring between the UK and Europe. That month, it was also reported that the UK music industry is now one-third smaller than before the pandemic.
How much profit does Glastonbury make?
Reflecting how Glastonbury has fared as of late, due to the cancelled editions in 2020 and 2021, it recorded losses of £3.1m after tax, with a turnover of less than £1m. This perhaps points to the festival’s position as less of a commercial entity and a more cultural, perhaps even charitable one, which, when glancing at it from a more holistic viewpoint, suggests that at its core, it isn’t that far removed from its original ethos.
“We have to sell out to break even, because the event costs so much to put on – about £40m,” Emily Eavis explained to the BBC in 2019. “Our other goal is to be able to give the charities we support about £2m a year. Glastonbury employs about 50 people full time.” These comments are telling, as they came before the pandemic.
In a 2022 piece in Somerset Live, the publication reported that Glastonbury Festival’s turnover is allegedly £32m, but that’s also contested. However, with post-pandemic recoveries apparent from the turnover, it would appear that the festival is, at least, back to profitable ways.
How much do the headliners get paid at Glastonbury?
This is an interesting question. It has never been officially disclosed how much a headliner gets paid at Glastonbury. Still, over the years, both Michael and Emily Eavis have mentioned the costs for some of the most prominent artists to headline the Pyramid Stage. Per Bristol Post, Michael once said: “I paid £200,000 for Paul McCartney and for Coldplay, and although it sounds a lot, they could have charged me far more.”
Elsewhere, Emily has maintained that the festival’s performers are typically paid less than 10% of what they’d usually get elsewhere and that the festival relies entirely on goodwill. “We’re not in the same bracket as everyone else when it comes to paying artists massive fees,” she told BBC Radio 6 in 2017. “So we’re really grateful for the bands that we get because they’re basically doing it for the love of it.”
“It’s probably less than 10% of what they’d get from playing any of the other major British festivals,” she continued: “[So] Glastonbury relies completely on goodwill.” And, in general, British festivals also often pay less than their US counterparts. When you consider that Bad Bunny received $5m for headline Coachella (with additional fees), it puts McCartney’s £200,000 into perspective.
Interestingly, DJ and Bestival organiser Rob da Bank claimed to Somerset Live in 2020 that Glastonbury’s budget is under £500,000 per headliner. “They cap their budget and even the headliners don’t get paid more than 500 grand,” he said: “I think, which is cheap for some of the headliners and they’ve had a lot of them. So, that’s proof of it’s huge, huge influence.”
How much money does Glastonbury bring into the economy?
As part of a December 2020 report, The Future of UK Music Festivals, produced by the House of Commons DCMS Select Committee using written evidence submitted by UK Music, offered some positive findings.
One section reads: “Music both contributes to onshore economic growth and supports local economies. Festivals and music venues are intrinsically linked to supply chain businesses in their local areas including technical freelancers, catering providers and service suppliers (for example security).”
Continuing: “According to the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) a 5,000 capacity festival is worth £1.1 million to the local area, while a 110,000 capacity festival can be worth over £27 million. Glastonbury generates over £100 million into the economy of South West England each time it takes place and music festivals as a whole employ over 85,000 people directly. Analysis has showed that for every £10 spent on a ticket for a live music event, £17 goes back into the local economy, driving business for local transport, hospitality outlets and retailers. Given this synergy, implementing a plan for the swift and safe return of live music and festivals could be a boost not only to a strategically vital sector, but also mobilise a whole range of economic activity.”
Beyond that, the Festival creates a micro-economy that is self-sustaining and offers an open opportunity, making it an area of great social mobility allowing working-class progression. This is also all achieved without basically any support from the current government.
How much does Michael Eavis earn from Glastonbury?
It has been reported that Michael Eavis is worth £1.2m. At the inaugural Glastonbury, when it was Pilton Festival, he charged £1 per ticket. However, things are very different nowadays, as we know, with the price for the 2023 edition being £340. Per a 2020 piece in Somerset Live, Eavis pays himself an annual sum of £60,000.
In the BBC documentary Glastonbury: 50 Years and Counting, Eavis looked back on his time as the founder and organiser of the festival and recalled making £20,000 in 1981 (£71,930 when adjusted for inflation in 2023), thanks to his cooperation with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) movement. Yet, he didn’t keep the money.
“CND were mailing about 400,000 people. My flyer went into that envelope,” he said. “So free advertising from my event, it was genius! With a captive audience and like-minded people, people who I had an affinity with, I had something to fight for, and something to go down for.”
“We named it the CND Festival actually. I made £20,000 in 1981,” Eavis continued. “I could not believe it, and I gave the money to Bruce Kent [from CND]. I took it down on the train myself and said ‘here’s the £20,000 towards the CND campaign.'”
How much is a burger van pitch at Glastonbury?
The Glastonbury website states: “Each pitch is priced individually therefore it is difficult to provide a reliable estimation of the price of a pitch until we have completed our selection process. Prices are based on a number of factors including (but not exclusively) the location, the trading space, the prices and types of products being sold and the number of staff passes allocated.”
Continuing: “We only have a limited amount of space and tickets available for market traders therefore if you are successful, you may be allocated a different amount of space, tickets or vehicle passes than requested in your application. In addition to the pitch fee, you will need to pay for your standpipe (food traders), any other water connections and power, all of which will be payable in the first week of April. All prices are subject to VAT.”
Street Food Central report: “Based on survey results from 42 food stall vendors the cost for a food stall at festivals like Glastonbury range between £3000 and £17000, with an average cost of £8500.”
Meanwhile, Together states: “Glastonbury – Attendance: 200,000 – Pitch fee: £18,000 – 5% of sales: 10,000 transactions – Gross sales (£8 average transaction): £80,000 – Cost of goods sold (33% of transaction cost): £26,400 – Net income: £35,600”.
Glastonbury’s price for a burger van or other food stalls is subjective. But if you flog enough £9 burgers this year then you can make a hefty profit. Even the Co-op is in on the act with its own on-site store.
How much is a beer at Glastonbury?
Somerset Live reported their findings from Glastonbury 2022. At the Greenpeace Bar, prices were £6 for a pint of Carlsberg Lager and £3 for a half, with the same for Brothers Festival Apple English Cider and Otter Ale. As for wine, Running Duck Chenin Blanc, Rosé, and Shiraz was £6 for 125ml – also known as a small glass.
The publication notes some discrepancies between the Greenpeace Bar and others, with the one close to the Glastonbury sign also charging £6 a pint but halves for £4. Other tipples on offer were Ringwood Razorback and Butcombe Gold.
It is also worth noting that, unlike a lot of other festivals, you can take as much drink as you want with you into the grounds, and you are allowed to take your own drink into the performance areas too. However, with a huge, hilly walk from the gates to the camping areas, many opt to travel light and simply snap up a pint on site.
How many people are at Glastonbury 2023?
We’ll have to wait and see for a definitive answer. The Mendip District Council report from November 2022 confirmed that the total attendance of that year increased from 2019’s 203,000 to 210,000 after the allowance for a higher capacity was approved by the council in 2018.
Comprising the 7,000-person increase, 3,000 extra general tickets were sold, increasing the 135,000 attendees from 2019 to 138,000, with the boost in staff accounting for the 4,000 extra. Notably, the number of visitors is often swollen by gatecrashers, with the record set at 300,000 for the 1994 festival, although this has been clamped down on dramatically since then.
