Glastonbury Festival Statistics: Attendance, Tickets and Economic Impact

Glastonbury Festival has grown from 1,500 people at its first event in 1970⁸ to an official capacity of 210,000 today¹.

• Michael Eavis held the first festival on the day after Jimi Hendrix died in 1970, inspired by a blues festival at the Bath & West Showground⁸.
• Tickets for that first festival cost £1, including free milk from the farm⁸.
• In 1971 the event moved to the summer solstice as the free "Glastonbury Fair", planned by Andrew Kerr and Arabella Churchill, and the first Pyramid Stage was built⁹.
• Attendance first passed 100,000 in 1998¹⁰, and capacity had reached 203,000 by 2017¹¹.
• A ticket rose from £5 in 1979¹² to £378.50 for 2025¹.

Glastonbury Festival-goers were estimated to have spent £1.6 million with businesses in the wider Somerset community during the 2023 festival².

• A quarter of the £1.6 million wider Somerset spend went to businesses providing food and drink².
• Around 50% of that wider Somerset spend went to local shops and supermarkets for provisions and festival supplies².
• Around 900 festival-goers stayed in local hotels and B&Bs, spending about £450,000².
• An estimated 4,000 festival-goers stayed in privately run off-site campsites adjoining the festival site, spending around £6.5 million².
• Crew working for Glastonbury were estimated to have spent about £900,000 with local businesses outside the festival².
• Volunteers were estimated to have spent a further £500,000 with local businesses².

Note: The £1.6 million covers festival-goers' spending in the wider Somerset community; spending at off-site campsites and hotels is reported separately.

Yes — ticket-holders can bring a campervan or caravan to Glastonbury, but it needs its own campervan ticket costing £225 for a standard pitch or £350 for a large pitch².

• The £225 standard pitch is for live-in vehicles under 8 metres; vehicles over 8 metres need the £350 large pitch at the Bath & West Showground².
• Campervan tickets for 2027 go on sale in autumn 2026 and are only available to General Admission ticket-holders, not to ticket and coach bookings².
• Everyone staying in the vehicle needs their own weekend festival ticket².
• There are four ticket types: East Quiet/Hired and East General pitches on the Blue route, and regular and large pitches at the Bath & West Showground on the White route, which has a free 24-hour shuttle bus to the festival².
• Vehicles must have purpose-built sleeping facilities and either fitted cooking or washing facilities; unconverted vans are sent to the car parks².
• Each pitch is about 8 metres by 7 metres, with room for one towing car².
• The East campervan fields are about a 10-minute walk from the outer festival areas and 20 minutes from the main stages².
• Campervan fields open at noon on Tuesday 22 June 2027; exit traffic closes access from 2pm on Sunday 27 June until 9pm on Monday 28 June².
• The festival does not rent out campervans, but hired vehicles can be delivered to the East fields by prior agreement².

For more on festivals built around van life, see our Vanlife Festival statistics.

Glastonbury Festival features over 4,000 performances across more than 100 stages².

• General Admission tickets include first-come, first-served access to over 4,000 performances across more than 100 stages².
• Tickets include 5 nights of camping, a free programme, free mobile phone charging, a free on-site newspaper and a free mobile app².
• The main music stages in 2025 included the Pyramid Stage, Other Stage, West Holts Stage, Woodsies, The Park, Acoustic Stage and Avalon Stage³⁸.
• Dance and late-night areas included Arcadia, Silver Hayes, Glade, Block9, The Common, Shangri-La and Unfairground³⁸.
• Family and community areas included Kidzfield, Green Fields, Greenpeace and Croissant Neuf³⁸.
• The festival also listed Left Field, cinema, Latin music, BBC Introducing, the Free University of Glastonbury and other specialist areas³⁸.
• The festival also includes non-music programming such as Theatre & Circus, cabaret, poetry and words, walkabouts and Kidzfield entertainment³⁸.
• Kidzfield entertainment, rides and activities are included free of charge for ticket-holders².

Glastonbury’s official sustainability summary says the festival has been powered entirely by renewable energy and renewable fuel since 2023².

• Since 2023, the festival has used sustainable renewable, virgin palm oil-free HVO fuel and renewable energy with no reliance on diesel or other fossil fuel for power anywhere on site².
• Worthy Farm’s 250kWp solar PV array and 125kVA biogas plant support festival offices, production areas and battery systems².
• A temporary 300kWh wind turbine powers food stalls in the Carhenge market area during the festival².
• Single-use plastic drinks bottles have not been available to purchase at the festival since 2019².
• Since 2019, over 98% of tents have been taken home after each festival².
• Somerset Council’s review of the 2025 festival found it was well run with no major incidents, and no formal enforcement action was needed⁴¹.
• Council officers also reported that no breaches of the licence conditions had been found⁴¹.