Glastonbury tickets!!!

[Holidayexpert]

£340!! What the hell? Are people going to pay these prices?
My DD does a couple of uk festivals every year, and has been to Glastonbury a couple of years ago, but has decided to go to primevara in Barcelona instead next year because of the cost.
Crazy! I could get a flight to anew York for that money.

I guess it’s just how things are these days. I looked at tickets for a mid level dance music artist (you’ll likely not have even heard of him), it was just him and no one else. Cheapest tickets were £100.

First Glasto I went to was 92 I think. Was £64 for the weekend.

Over 2 million register for tickets - only 200k get them. They sell out in minutes every year, its like a lottery.

For your £340 you get a 5 day camping holiday with world class entertainment.

Also, kids under 12 go free. So my friends are taking their 4 kids with them - best part of a week camping for a family of 6 for less than £700 including amazing entertainment.

I'm actually surprised they don't charge more tbh.

I’m not a regular festival goer. I’m too old and like my comforts too much!
Hiwever, if I was going, I’d head to one of the many European festivals.
friend goes to one in Porto every year with her DH. Under 100 euro for the tickets, and accommodation in plentiful and cheap.
Cheap flights as well!

DS will, he manages to go most years, he does look upon it as like a holiday

I mean people pay 150 plus to go to a single concert in the o2 or whatever - Glastonbury is 5 days long with so
much more.

I think it's reasonable value compared to gig tickets.

I'm sure I paid about £200 to see the Stones at Wembley so it sounds quite reasonable when you think of the cost of other concerts

I can't really understand the comparison between Glastonbury and a ticket to New York? Surely the ticket to Glastonbury offers much more for the money then a single flight?

Fair enough. If I see live music it’s in small venues, with low ticket prices. I personally hate any large corporate festivals like Glastonbury.

I had no idea that under 12’s were free. I can see how that would attract families!

I remember my DD being successful the third year she tried to get tickets, so not an easy feat!
Good luck to anyone trying to get tickets!

Glastonbury has managed to keep their prices down for years but even with the increase it is worth it for what you get. With a lot of the other festivals you’re not able to bring your own drink in to the arena (or the festival at all), food prices are also reasonable. Children under 12 are free and there is so much to see and do. It’s a holiday and well worth the money. Hoping I get a ticket this year.

Bearing in mind Shambala is the thick end of £300 I think Glastonbury for £340 is amazing value

Glastonbury isn’t a corporate festival either, no major advertising, lots done for charities and the surrounding area. As pp said, lots of nice food available for cheap prices, plus you can take all the booze you can carry. It’s the most amazing place and it’s well worth the money.

while that is a lot of money, relatively speaking I don’t think that’s actually unreasonable.

I'm pretty sure the festival your friend goes to is Primavera Sounds - I've been a few times in Porto and it's brilliant. And it actually works out cheaper than Glastonbury, even if you go for a full week.

I haven't managed to get a ticket since 2017, but yes, even at that price it will be a bargain. And I'm pretty sure it will still be a mad scramble for tickets that they could sell several times over.

Oh and I've been to Primavera in Porto several times and although I've had a great time, it's not Glastonbury or even a festival in the sense of an immersive weekend. It's some outdoor shows in a park in a (lovely) city.

That sounds very reasonable, given what I've just paid for Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay. Easily over £100 each.

I think the experience would be worth every penny, but I couldn't face the toilets

It's good value compared to stadium gigs and other UK festivals, based on the acts you get to see, plus camping included. I've been to European festivals and they're good but you don't get the same level of headliners. Glastonbury is not corporate - they only collaborate with the Guardian and BBC and give so much money to charity. They don't have corporate sponsors. You can take in all your food and booze which is very rare these days.

It’s excellent value. I’d happily pay more to guarantee a ticket as well!

They could probably charge £1000 and still sell all their tickets.

I love Glastonbury, but won't be trying for tickets this year, it is quite a significant rise admittedly, but Emily Eavis explains the reasons well, so it's not a surprise I guess.

Also, just to add, it's not a corporate festival, it's probably one of the least corporate festivals you could attend. There are 3 main charities that are supported each year, I think the closest thing you could argue is the drinks supplier, but there is no overt advertising.

To add, it's one of very few festivals that 'once you are in, you're in'. There are no arenas, you can come and go around the entire site, you can freely BYOB and consume anywhere.

Finally, what you see on the BBC is probably 5% (maybe less) of the entertainment and activities available. There are something like 100 stages with live music alone... not forgetting all the other activities; cinema, well being, circus, comedy, kids...

I did have a slight gasp at the increase, but it is still value for money. However I can foresee how people will question affordability given the financial pressures we're under. It's certainly too much for me.

As long as there is high demand, they can and will charge whatever they can get away with. The demand is higher the supply so selling glasto tickets won’t be an issue. They normally sell out in minutes.

Glastonbury is not a 'corporate festival' and if you look at other major festivals next year you'll find that most are approaching £300. I have paid £110 for a Hyde Park Billy Joel ticket for June - at Glasto you'll likely see 10+ big name bands across the weekend, plus all the smaller stages and tents, an absolutely vast and incredible dance/late night area, the green/healing fields, comedy, circus, kids fields, cinema, spa, amazing food choices etc etc etc. It's actually really good value for what you get, although obviously out of a lot of people's reach.

The other thing is you can take your own booze and food so once you get there it can work out pretty cheap.

This. Fair enough to compare it with big festivals in other countries - although they rarely have the same number and variety of English language bands as glastonbury (understandably), plus you will also have to factor in additional time to get there, cost of travel insurance, transport from airport to venue, passport if you don't have one, etc.- but comparing it to a flight to New York doesn't make any sense! You may as well say "I could pay a month's electricity for that!"

If you compare it to the cost of camping in a basic campsite, plus the cost of seeing individual bands, plus all the additional stuff (food, chargers, stalls, discos, kids entertainment, displays, first aid, police availabilityetc) that you wouldn't get in a normal campsite, opportunity to see smaller bands you wouldn't have seen, bands that haven't toured the uk, etc. Then it becomes a pretty good deal. Particulalry given that due to covid losses it hasn't increased year on year so looks like a big increase compared to 2019 -it's probably nowhere near as big a jump comparatively as the price of milk!

If you live outside of the big cities where the biggest names usually play you'd be looking at not far off £300 by the time you'd bought tickets, a hotel, food, transport etc for Ed sheeran, beyonce, Billy eilish, Coldplay or one of the big headliners so for a similar amount you get all the rest above included.

@Holidayexpert
Only been to Primavera Sound festival once and whilst it’s a great festival, it’s no Glastonbury.
Also, if you compare costs -
⁃ Primavera 2023 ticket €260 for 3 days
⁃ No free on site camping, you have to pay for hotels, Abnb etc
⁃ Entertainment limited to bands only (even though the lineup is normally stellar)
⁃ No taking your own food and drink, have to buy overpriced sponsored drink company beverages and very limited, expensive food
⁃ Flights

Glastonbury 2023 ticket £340 for 5 days
⁃ Free on site camping
⁃ Entertainment so much more than bands - comedy, theatre and circus, films, kids field, late night clubs etc etc
⁃ Take as much food and drink as you can carry. If wanting to ‘eat out’ extensive range of cuisines
⁃ Car/coach travel (appreciate this could be as much as Barcelona flights cost if not local)
⁃ Children under 12 go free

So all in all, I’d say Glastonbury is better value both in length of time, variety and costs