UK’s Greenbelt launches pay-what-you-can pricing model

The UK’s Greenbelt festival has launched a ‘pay-what-you-can’ pricing structure in a bid to battle the cost-of-living crisis.

The independent festival has scrapped its usual tiered ticketing deadlines and replaced them with three price points for adults.

Tickets start from £150 for adults in need of a subsidised ticket (Supported), £190 for a regular ticket (Standard) and £230 for a Supporter ticket that helps to pay it forward.

The new pay-what-you-can model marks a decrease in the standard ticket price from last year.

Fans are free to decide which option best suits them, and can also spread the cost in interest-free instalments.

In addition, Greenbelt has launched the Open Festival free ticket scheme that invites the public to nominate people they think would benefit from the festival experience but can’t afford a ticket.

“In launching this radical ticketing structure we undertook a real leap of faith”

“Our new ticketing and pricing structure was a no-brainer for us, it just felt like something we had to do,” says Greenbelt’s creative director, Paul Northup.

“Greenbelt has always been fired by a strong belief and values system that means we put conversations, debates, discussions and platforms at the heart of the festival; all led by what is going on around us in the world and Greenbelt’s ongoing commitment to justice and inclusivity. Our festival-goers are ready to engage, ready to try a new way of doing things.”

“We’re connected to our audience in a way that the best festivals are, and our audience reflects this back. Perhaps ours is a community like no other – part of a movement – where people stand together. In launching this radical ticketing structure we undertook a real leap of faith. We trusted our audience would come with us and understand why it was important. We are, genuinely, all in this together.”

Greenbelt is touted as “a place where ideas, activism, artistry, music, theatre and belief come together”.

The festival returns to Boughton House in Northamptonshire between 24–27 August 2023 for its 50th edition.

Laura Mvula, Ezra Furman, Indigo Girls, Balaklava Blues, Grace Petrie and Duke Special, Bruce Cockburn, Elles Bailey and Bashar Murad are slated to perform at the 2023 instalment.

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