Glastonbury costs revealed in new economic report

A new report measuring the economic impact of Glastonbury Festival has revealed that last year’s event cost £62 million (€72m) to stage.

Held at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, in June 2023, the legendary UK festival welcomed more than 140,000 ticket-holders for high-profile sets from the likes of Elton John, Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses, Lana Del Rey, WizKid, Lizzo, Blondie and Cat Stevens.

Entertainment was provided at over 100 stages across five days, with general sale tickets priced £335.

“The total cost of putting on the 2023 Glastonbury Festival was approximately £62 million, paid across 922 organisations providing services to the festival,” says the report. “Included in this are the materials and infrastructure that bring the fields to life; all the crew creating the build and managing the stages; and costs for the staff that work for the festival throughout the year.

“Of this £62 million spent by the festival, just under £12 million was paid to 258 companies in Somerset.”

The Economic Impact Summary 2023 was commissioned by organisers of the UK festival and carried out by research specialist Fourth Street. It was based on a survey of 643 festival-goers, plus an online survey of 354 staff and 148 volunteers, along with 30 telephone interviews with local businesses.

The report found Glastonbury to have a “significant positive economic impact”, both nationally and locally, generating around £168m of income for UK businesses including £32m for Somerset-based businesses.

Festival-goers were estimated to have spent £1.6m in the wider Somerset community, 50% of which was spent in local shops and supermarkets. Around 900 attendees stayed in local hotels and B&Bs during the event, contributing around £450,000, with 4,000 staying in privately-run offsite campsites, spending in the region of £6.5m.

Glastonbury made payments in excess of £3.7m to a range of charitable causes and campaigns in 2023

Crew working for Glastonbury were estimated to have spent about £900,000 with local businesses outside the event during their time on site, while festival volunteers are estimated to have spent a further £500,000. There were more than 10,000 volunteers in 2023.

The festival also sustained more than 1,100 UK jobs in total, 325 of which were based in Somerset. An additional 1,750 people worked directly for the event over shorter periods of time.

Glastonbury made payments in excess of £3.7m to a range of charitable causes and campaigns in 2023, while its raffle of Glastonbury tickets for Oxfam’s Crowdfunder DEC Appeal raised more than £1m towards the Syria-Turkey Earthquake response, and an online auction of tickets raised £116,000 for the Trussell Trust. The festival has also built 52 social housing homes in Pilton.

Coldplay, Dua Lipa and SZA were confirmed last week as headliners for Glastonbury’s 2024 edition, which will take place from 26-30 June. Shania Twain will occupy the coveted Sunday teatime “legend slot”. The bill will also include the likes of LCD Soundsystem, PJ Harvey, Little Simz, Burna Boy, Janelle Monáe, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Kiwanuka and Seventeen, who will become the first K-pop act to perform on the Pyramid Stage.

Tickets sold out in just under an hour last November, with organisers saying “demand greatly exceeded supply”.

The festival’s long-term future at Worthy Farm was secured last year after it was granted permanent planning permission by Somerset Council.

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