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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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Dua Lipa, Coldplay, SZA to headline Glastonbury

The UK’s Glastonbury Festival has dropped its first lineup announcement for 2024, unveiling Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA as headliners.

Coldplay and Dua Lipa are both represented by WME outside North America, while SZA, who will be making her Glastonbury debut, is a client of Wasserman Music.

This year’s festival will take place at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset from 26-30 June.

Further acts announced for the Pyramid Stage are LCD Soundsystem, PJ Harvey, Little Simz, Burna Boy, Janelle Monáe, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Kiwanuka, Seventeen, Paul Heaton, Keane, Paloma Faith, Oliva Dean, Ayra Starr and Shania Twain, who will occupy the coveted Sunday teatime “legend slot”.

The Other Stage will be headlined by Idles, Disclosure and The National. It will also host the likes of D-Block Europe, The Streets, Two Door Cinema Club, Anne-Marie, Camila Cabello, Avril Lavigne, Bombay Bicycle Club, Bloc Party, The Last Dinner Party, Nothing but Thieves, Confidence Man and Headie One.

Coldplay will become the first act to headline Glastonbury five times

Also confirmed for various stages include London Grammar, Fontaines DC, Jungle, Peggy Gou, Jessie Ware, Justice, Arlo Parks, Heilung, Masego, Nia Archives, Sugababes, Jamie xx, Gossip, Black Pumas, Brittany Howard, Nitin Sawhney, James Blake, Sampha, Sleaford Mods, Romy, Declan McKenna, Orbital, Ghetts, Kenya Grace and Yard Act.

Coldplay will become the first act to headline Glastonbury five times, having previously topped the bill in 2002, 2005, 2011 and 2016, breaking the record they currently share with The Cure. The date will mark the band’s only European festival appearance of their ongoing Music of the Spheres World Tour.

Tickets for the 210,000-cap event sold out in just under an hour last November, while Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis received a knighthood in the 2024 New Year Honours List.


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Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis knighted

Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis has received a knighthood in the 2024 New Year Honours List.

Listed under his full name, Athelstan Joseph Michael Eavis, the 88-year-old has been recognised for services to charity and music. He was previously awarded a CBE in 2007.

The English dairy farmer, who gave a keynote interview at the 2017 International Festival Forum, began running music events in Worthy Farm, Pilton, Somerset in 1970 and has gone on to build Glastonbury into one of the largest and most respected festivals globally.

The most recent edition of the legendary UK festival was headlined by Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Elton John.

“I’ve done quite a lot of stuff in my life and I’ve always been fairly sure that I was doing the right thing”

“I have had a good life and managed to keep the festival going for 53 years,” he tells Glastonbury’s website. “It’s all gone so well in the end. It took 25 years for the public to catch on. We started with 500 people in 1970 and we’ve finished up with millions wanting to come every year now. That’s quite extraordinary isn’t it?

“I’ve done quite a lot of stuff in my life and I’ve always been fairly sure that I was doing the right thing.

“Last time I met [King Charles], I got a suit especially. And he said, ‘Why aren’t you wearing your shorts?’! But I think [Prince] William might do the ceremony. He’s made a few mentions of wanting to come to the Festival. So I’ll probably take a couple of tickets in my pocket!”

Elsewhere, current Royal Albert Hall CEO James Ainscough, formerly chief executive of music charity Help Musicians, was awarded an OBE in the Honours List. Other music industry honourees include Dame Shirley Bassey (Companion of Honour), Soho Artists founder Paul Burger, Global executive president Ashley Tabor-King, artist Leona Lewis, broadcaster Tony Blackburn and songwriter Don Black, who each receive OBEs.

In addition, Girls I Rate founder Carla Marie-Williams, Universal Music UK EVP Selina Webb and radio presenter Steve Wright are made MBEs.

Glastonbury recently announced it will have made payments of more than £3.7 million (€3.4m) to charitable causes and campaigns in 2023 by the end of the year. In addition, its Oxfam Crowdfunder DEC Appeal raised over £1m towards the Syria-Turkey Earthquake response, and an online auction raised £116,000 for the Trussell Trust.

This year also saw the opening of another 20 social houses in Pilton on land donated by Sir Michael, using stone from Worthy Farm, taking the total number of homes to 52.

Next year’s festival is set for  26-30 June, with the lineup to be revealed in early 2024

“I’ve been in the village all my life and I’ve seen all the council houses sold off, so there were no houses left to rent for working people. And private renting can be a nightmare,” he says. “I think it’s so important to have a permanent stock of houses to rent at an affordable price. So that was the most important thing for me to do in this village really.”

Next year’s festival is set for  26-30 June, with the lineup to be revealed in early 2024. Tickets sold out in just under an hour last month, as “demand greatly exceeded supply”. Sir Michael’s daughter, Emily, is co-organiser of the event.

All tickets for the 210,000-cap 2024 event had been bought on 19 November by 9.57am GMT – a few minutes quicker than last year’s onsale but slower than 2019’s record of 34 minutes. Festival ticket and coach packages sold out in 25 minutes on 16 November.

The festival’s long-term future at Worthy Farm was secured earlier this year after it was granted permanent planning permission by the local council. Somerset Council succeeded Mendip District Council as the event’s licensing authority following the abolition of the latter in April and made a series of recommendations earlier this month on how to improve the event going forward.

 


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Glastonbury given improvement tips for 2024

Glastonbury Festival organisers have received a series of recommendations from Somerset Council on how to improve the event in 2024.

Following a meeting of the licensing authority’s communities scrutiny committee on 13 December, the council’s head of regulatory services Dave Coles said this year’s festival “overall was very well-run”, but added that “continuous improvement” was required.

Suggestions include improved crowd control, clearer allergen information, better walkways and additional toilets and water refill stations at The Park and The Stone Circle areas, according to the BBC-backed Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Held at Worthy Farm near Pilton, the legendary UK festival was headlined by Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Elton John in 2023.

Organiser Glastonbury Festival Events says it accepts the council’s recommendations ahead of next year’s festival, set for 26-30 June. The lineup will be revealed in early 2024.

“We will be reviewing the feedback and recommendations given in the report, and will continue to work closely with local authority and agency partners”

“We were very pleased with the local authority’s overall feedback that the event was ‘once again well-planned and managed’,” says a spokesperson. “As always, we will be reviewing the feedback and recommendations given in the report, and will continue to work closely with local authority and agency partners throughout the planning and delivery of next year’s event.”

The festival’s long-term future at Worthy Farm was secured earlier this year after it was granted permanent planning permission by the local council. Somerset Council succeeded Mendip District Council as the event’s licensing authority following the abolition of the latter in April.

Tickets for next year’s Glastonbury sold out in just under an hour last month, with organisers saying “demand greatly exceeded supply”. All tickets for the 2024 event had been bought on 19 November by 9.57am GMT – a few minutes quicker than last year’s onsale but slower than 2019’s record of 34 minutes. Festival ticket and coach packages sold out in 25 minutes on 16 November.

General sale tickets cost £355 (€410), up from £335 in 2023 and £265 in 2019. There will be a resale of any cancelled or returned tickets in the spring.

Glastonbury recently announced it will have made payments of more than £3.7 million (€3.4m) to charitable causes and campaigns in 2023 by the end of the year. In addition, its Oxfam Crowdfunder DEC Appeal raised over £1m towards the Syria-Turkey Earthquake response, and an online auction raised £116,000 for the Trussell Trust.

 


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Glastonbury 2024 tickets sell out in under an hour

Tickets for next year’s Glastonbury festival sold out in just under an hour, with organisers saying “demand greatly exceeded supply”.

All tickets for the 2024 event were bought on Sunday (19 November) at 9.57am GMT – a few minutes quicker than last year’s onsale but slower than 2019’s record of 34 minutes.

Festival ticket and coach packages sold out in 25 minutes on 16 November, three minutes slower than last year.

General sale tickets for the 2024 edition cost £355 (plus a £5 booking fee), up from £335 in 2023 and £265 in 2019.

There will be a resale of any cancelled or returned tickets in spring 2024.

“We’re blown away that so many people want to come (we all still remember the years when they didn’t!)”

“We’re blown away that so many people want to come (we all still remember the years when they didn’t!) and I’m sorry that many of you missed out,” organiser Emily Eavis wrote on Instagram.

“Demand far exceeds supply and with many millions of devices trying at once, it means the system can only work at certain speed.”

Eavis has hinted that a “really big American artist” – believed to be Madonna – will be among the headliners.

She also hinted that two female headliners could perform at the Pyramid Stage next year, with another booked for the legend’s slot. Last year, the headliner lineup was all male with Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Sir Elton John performing.

The festival, which hosts more than 3,000 acts, will reveal the lineup early next year.

Glastonbury 2024 will take place at Worthy Farm, in the UK, from 26-30 June.

 


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BBC reveals record Glastonbury viewing figures

The BBC has revealed its TV coverage of this year’s Glastonbury festival reached a record-breaking 23.1 million people.

The figures, which include the 30-day catch up period, were up 8% on 2022’s figure of 21.4m, with 8.6m people tuning in to Elton John’s Sunday night headline performance on BBC One over the same period.

Other high-performing sets at the 21-25 June event included Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Yusuf/Cat Stevens, as well as Blondie, Rick Astley, Fred Again.., Foo Fighters, Becky Hill and Lewis Capaldi. Glastonbury 2023 content on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds has also now been streamed 65 million times, up 54% on last year’s figure.

“This was an incredible year at Worthy Farm and I’m proud that we successfully matched the ambition and spirit of this iconic festival with our extensive coverage of it,” says BBC director of music Lorna Clarke.

The BBC, which recently inked a multi-year extension to continue to as Glastonbury’s exclusive multimedia broadcast partner, delivered over 40 hours of coverage across its TV channels in 2023, as well as 85 hours of live radio broadcasts, content on BBC Sounds, and an increase in scale and accessibility on BBC iPlayer.

“It’s wonderful that record audiences discovered and enjoyed our Glastonbury output on TV, radio and online”

For the first time, the corporation also streamed Pyramid Stage performances live in British Sign Language.

“It’s wonderful that record audiences discovered and enjoyed our Glastonbury output on TV, radio and online, as I know the teams across the BBC and BBC Studios worked around the clock to bring more performances and content than ever before to people at home,” adds Clarke. “A special thanks to Emily and Michael Eavis for allowing us to share the joy of Glastonbury with so many people across the UK.”

Glastonbury’s long-term future at Worthy Farm was secured earlier this year after it was granted permanent planning permission by the local council.

The festival will return to Worthy Farm, Somerset, from 26-30 June 2024.

 


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Taylor Swift ruled out of Glasto by new Eras shows

Taylor Swift has announced 14 extra European dates for her Eras tour, ruling out the possibility of a heavily-rumoured headline slot at Glastonbury.

It was revealed yesterday (5 July) that the pop star will now be playing Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on all three days of the festival next year. Previously, there had been a gap in her schedule on Sunday 30 June, Glastonbury’s closing night.

The pop star will play also extra nights in Paris, Stockholm, Sweden, Lisbon, Lyon, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Milan, Gelsenkirchen, Warsaw and Vienna.

The outing, produced by Taylor Swift Touring, will commence on 9 May 2024 at Paris La Défense Arena (cap. 40,000) in France and conclude on 17 August at Wembley Stadium (90,000) in London.

The pop star will play also extra nights in Paris, Stockholm, Sweden, Lisbon, Lyon, Edinburgh, London and more

Swift also revealed yesterday that US rock band Paramore will be the support act for her European dates. Paramore opened the first two nights of Swift’s US leg in Glendale, Arizona, before embarking their own headline tour.

The announcement of the European leg came soon after the star announced her first round of international dates, in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil.

Swift currently has 14 dates remaining of her North American stadium tour, which sparked “historically unprecedented demand”.

In the US, Eras is tipped to eclipse Swift’s 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour, which became the country’s highest-grossing tour in history, selling over two million tickets for 38 shows for a total of $266.1 million.

Promoted by AEG’s Messina Touring Group and AEG Presents, the 53-date trek was the second highest-grossing worldwide tour of 2018 behind Ed Sheeran’s record-breaking Divide run, grossing $345.1m from 2,888.892 ticket sales, as per Pollstar‘s year-end rankings.

Lewis Capaldi pauses touring for “foreseeable future”

Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi has said he will take a break from touring for the “foreseeable future”.

The announcement comes days after he struggled to finish his Glastonbury set due to his Tourette’s Syndrome.

Glastonbury was the 26-year-old’s first live performance since taking a previous three-week break.

“First of all, thank you to Glastonbury for having me, for singing along when I needed it and for all the amazing messages afterwards. It really does mean the world,” he began. “The fact that this probably won’t come as a surprise doesn’t make it any easier to write, but I’m very sorry to let you know I’m going to be taking a break from touring for the foreseeable future.”

He explained that he felt ready to return to the stage after cancelling dates scheduled for earlier this month but Saturday’s performance made it “obvious that I need to spend much more time getting my mental and physical health in order”.

“It became obvious that I need to spend much more time getting my mental and physical health in order”

“I used to be able to enjoy every second of shows like this and I’d hoped 3 weeks away would sort me out,” he said.

“But the truth is I’m still learning to adjust to the impact of my Tourette’s and on Saturday it became obvious that I need to spend much more time getting my mental and physical health in order, so I can keep doing everything I love for a long time to come.

“I know I’m incredibly fortunate to be able to take some time out when others can’t and I’d like to thank my amazing family, friends, team, medical professionals and all of you who’ve been so supportive every step of the way through the good times and even more so during this past year when I’ve needed it more than ever.”

Capaldi, who is repped by agents Ryan Penty and Alex Hardee at Wasserman Music, was due to play 26 dates around the world between now and October including Reading and Leeds festivals.

“We’re gutted that Lewis Capaldi won’t be performing at R&L this year, but health comes first and we wish him a speedy recovery,” an update from Reading and Leeds read. “We’re working hard to book a replacement, stay tuned.”

Read IQ‘s recent report for Capaldi’s biggest European tour to date here.

 


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Elton John’s historic Glasto set smashes records

Elton John looks to have smashed attendance and viewership records for the last UK show of his farewell tour at Glastonbury.

The 76-year-old legend delivered a two-hour set packed with hits from across his five-decades-long career, including ‘Pinball Wizard’ which he hadn’t performed in over a decade.

Early estimates had the Sunday night performance as one of the most-attended of all time – possibly eclipsing Dolly Parton in 2014 – with at least 120,000 in the audience.

Meanwhile, 7.6 million tuned in to watch live on BBC One – the biggest-ever overnight audience for a Glastonbury set.

In comparison, in 2022 Diana Ross was the most-watched star with 3.1m and Paul McCartney’s headline set was seen by 2.7m.

“I never thought I’d play Glastonbury – and here I am,” he said. “I’m so happy to be here. I won’t ever forget this. It’s a very special and emotional night for me as it may be my last show in England, in Great Britain. I’d better play well and I’d better entertain you because you’ve been standing there so long.”

7.6 million tuned in to watch live on BBC One – the biggest-ever overnight audience for a Glastonbury set

The 21-song set included hits such as ‘The Bitch Is Back’, ‘Bennie and the Jet’ and ‘I’m Still Standing,’ as well as a number of guest appearances.

Jacob Lusk of US soul group Gabriels accompanied John on ‘Are You Ready For Love’, Rina Sawayama took Kiki Dee’s place on ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ and The Killers’ Brandon Flowers appeared for ‘Tiny Dancer’. Nashville’s Stephen Sanchez even got to sing a song of his own, ‘Until I Found You’.

John drew the curtain on his UK touring career with an extended version of ‘Rocket Man’. “It’s been an incredible journey and I’ve had the best, best time,” said the star, with a lump in his throat.

The show came toward the end of Elton’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour – now officially the highest-grossing tour of all time, with box office receipts of $887m (£697m).

After Glastonbury, there are just seven dates left, with the final show in Stockholm on 8 July.

John’s performance drew the 2023 Glastonbury festival to a close, after high-profile sets from Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses, Lana Del Rey, WizKid, Lizzo, Blondie and Cat Stevens.

Friday’s headliner Arctic Monkeys saw a record performance for a Friday night headline set with a peak audience of 2.6m, while audiences for Saturday’s headliner Guns N’ Roses on BBC Two peaked at 2.1m.

Lewis Capaldi’s and Lizzo’s Pyramid Stage performances on Saturday had a BBC One audience peak 2.4m.

Organiser Emily Eavis has confirmed the event will return next year, with two female headliners already booked.


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Glastonbury ceremony to remember CAA’s Ben Kouijzer

CAA and the family of late agent Ben Kouijzer are extending an open invite to anyone attending Glastonbury Festival this week to join them at an informal ceremony to celebrate his life.

Festival organisers have planted a tree along with Kouijzer’s ashes at a site on the border of The Kings Meadow, which sits between Greenpeace and The Stone Circle.

Anyone who will be at Glastonbury is invited to the ceremony at the tree on Friday 23 June at 3pm, to raise a glass to Kouijzer. The invite is extended to all those who knew Ben, and to those that didn’t have the chance to meet but would still like to pay respects. Guests are asked to please bring a shot of tequila (Ben’s favourite) for those who drink, or something else for those who don’t drink (or don’t like tequila).

The coordinates for the gathering are 51°08’45.6″N  2°35’03.6″W. The location can be seen in this video.

 

Kouijzer, who also previously worked at UTA, was 36 when he passed in November 2020. He had been diagnosed with malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour (MPNST), a rare and aggressive type of cancer.

 


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