Glastinflation

[Ems!]

average gig is £20-50 depending on venue and scale of the band... along with travel there n back aswell as fees e.t.c and food. so a £20 gig plus maybe £5 max travel and food and ur looking at £30-35.... so £30 x 6 is £180...

a 5 day camping festival with untold bands playing, aswell as other things like comedy e.t.c and ur quids in!!!!! on the grand scale of things u get an AWFUL lot for your money especially considering it's like £40 just to see KOL or the Killers at the 02 for an hour or so.

think about it...

[darrenbha]

There was talk of v having taken the presale tickets off sale as they were selling slower than in previous years rather than them having sold out

[irons]

I think the first major festival that hits the £200 mark will have people thinking about going to a European one instead. My bets on V, that's been hitting a hell of a price in the last few years.

Glasto will survive simply because it's still good value for money, so far anyway. If it hits the £200 I'd worry about that too thou. If it holds out for another few years under that price people will be OK about it I think.

[strudders]

a 5 day camping festival with untold bands playing, aswell as other things like comedy e.t.c and ur quids in!!!!! on the grand scale of things u get an AWFUL lot for your money especially considering it's like £40 just to see KOL or the Killers at the 02 for an hour or so.

think about it...

[chuckley]

I think the first major festival that hits the £200 mark will have people thinking about going to a European one instead. My bets on V, that's been hitting a hell of a price in the last few years.

Glasto will survive simply because it's still good value for money, so far anyway. If it hits the £200 I'd worry about that too thou. If it holds out for another few years under that price people will be OK about it I think.

[chuckley]

Hi Chuckley

I don't think we are debating the value of Glastonbury, To me it priceless! The issue is the actual cost to punter of a ticket and how that stacks up.

When I first stated going there was not really an issue on cost, I think it was 17 quid. But to alot of people on low incomes etc 200 is the limit at which they could comit. As I said, it is the same for me and I am more fortunate than most.

If you take a family of four with a child over 13 then it would be 600 plus spending and travel. That will be incredibly difficult to find and justify. Glastonbury has always prided itself on people Family friendly but if the ticket cost exclude them then I think the atmosphere will be lost. I love the mix of people at Glastonbury simply because the demographic is so wide. I would hate to see that change because of the very people who give it sole cant afford it.

Edited January 11, 2009 by chuckley

[Paul ™]

factor in flights and taxi transfers and ur paying more than goin to a UK one...

[Amlo4ka]

With travel it costs about £200 now anyway, but i am interested to see if the extra £2million pounds gained by the extra £20 a tickets will be reflected in some new exciting developments...

free facepainting on the door anyone?

[harper11]

euro fests dont look so cheap with the pound so low

[mdp963]

I started a very similar thread a couple of years ago.... can't get back to it as I believe now deleted

Your assessment is a little narrow as there is more than one way to look at inflation

For example

Current data is only available till 2007.

In 2007, £1.00 from 1971 was worth:

£10.19 using the retail price index

£10.25 using the GDP deflator

£18.15 using the average earnings

£22.05 using the per capita GDP

£24.04 using the share of GDP

More importantly one must obviously take into account what we now get for our money compared to previous years

One recent example is the improvements to drainage and further back the Super Fence

Whatever your views for or against ( is there now anyone left against it !!??) the Super Fence it is 100% certain that without it there would now be no festival ticket price to discuss

I don't know what the Fence on it's own cost but it must be in the region of £20 per ticket

I agree the ticket price does continue to rise and is of some concern - especially on the point of excluding certain people

HOWEVER other festivals also continue to increase their ticket prices .... only last night we priced up Womad ... basic ticket price is around £122 for 3 days

A slightly different style of festival I agree but I am sure that on a straight comparison Glastonbury is 'better' value

...and I suspect Reading/Leeds will be up and therefore close to Glastonbury

Even at £184.50 ...for 5 days and all that you get it is still IMHO good value ... an ordinary campsite (albeit far less crowded and with better facilities ) would be over £50 for 5 nights

[cabstar]

Great thread, as the price has increased so has the size of the festival, extra stages etc... Glastonbury is probably one of the most expensive festivals to put on before band costs are included.

Whilst V is pushing its prices ever skywards they are also increasing capacity by extraudinary amounts. Last year at Staffs there was hardly any room. Every year I say I am not going to V but still go as it is such an easy festival to do, not much walking, but the increasing police presence along with over enthusiastic security is really making me seriously think twice this year.

I don't think the cost of a festival ticket will ever put me off alone.

[Robbie629]

Thank you for raising this excellent and most relevant point of discussion TomfromStroud. I feel I’m in a better position than most to give my two cents because I’m in the process of selling my car to pay off the balance of my ticket For me personally [and I’m sure this is the case for many] glasto is my annual holiday. It’s always the best weekend of my year, how can you put a price on that sort of pleasure?

With that said this is the first year [been going since 2OO3] I’ve really noticed the price increase. £2O on last year seems a bit much to me, especially considering it only just sold out last year [supply & demand]. Although there can be little argument the festival is such a unique and rich experience both I terms of music and culture, therefore it is difficult to put a value on.

If the rumoured headliners are correct then the presence alone of the boss will guarantee a sell out this year. Which COULD encourage organisers to make a similar increase in ticket price next year. That IMHO could be the point when cost becomes prohibitive for many [approx. £2OO]. Failing to sell out in 2O1O, the year before a break would be a huge blow for the future of Glastonbury.

[fairyinboots]

The cost is crippling me also. Like you, Robbie629 this has been my annual holiday, and I have not actually had a holiday for 6 years now, except for Glasto. I said that last year was going to be my last, but found I have a ticket for this year! Last year was only made possible with help from friends. Its not just the ticket price, its the food, the extra's you might want and other stuff while you are there. I do not drink, so I do not have alcohol on my list.

I am seriously thinking that this may have to be my last Glasto, at least for a couple of years. Why? Becuase I really want to go on a summer holiday somewhere! WIth the price of Glasto going up so, I very well may now be priced out.

[alframsey]

IMO it is worth paying 300 quid to go to Glastonbury, but id rather not, but i would. make sense? However i am stuggling to find the rest of the payment this year.

Edited January 11, 2009 by alframsey

[Joshuwarr]

I think Eavis really needs to try and refrain from hitting the 200 mark anytime soon. However after the year gap it will no doubt skyrocket in price

[Mardy]

Tricky, innit. In the early 90s, a ticket was about 2 weeks dole money which was a real struggle for me to find (which may have led to me jumping the fence). I can find the money now, but if I was in the same place financially as then, yeah, I'd be f**ked, I guess. Doesn't really sit well with the talk about attracting younger people to the festival does it?

[DiscoDolly]

The old saying "You get what you pay for" is something that definately doesnt spring to mind for the festival, If looked at in terms of its competitors then the festival is still great value for money and we get much much more for our ticket price,

How much will people pay? might as well ask how long is a piece of string, because there will be folks who will pay just about whatever is asked, My first Glasto cost the massive amount of £17 for a ticket but there again it wasnt the goliath money eating/grabbing machine it is nowadays and if someone had said id be paying what i have done for 2009 id have told them they were totally nuts..but i paid it.

[Boris]

I think a £20 increase was a bit daft... maybe £10 this and another £10 next... but I still declare that it is excellent value for money considering the panoply of pleasures that await. I hope they can avoid any more increases for the next 3 festys or so nevertheless or the demographic may change too much. As a holiday it is still a great bargain.... and there's not many campsites I know that would charge just £10 for two adults one tent and a car per night. Bring it on!

[mdp963]

DiscoDolly has (as often) hit the nail on the head - do you still so often get what you pay for???

.....part of this years price increase is to cover the problems of 2008

...part of it is to cover general cost increases and we are not taking here about competitively priced RPI type things here

...part of it is to generally and gradually improve the site facilities

.... always remember that Eavis does not make a vast 'profit' out of the festival

...and you are experiencing probably the best festival in the world!!!

...So Ithink you are getting graet value for money

If you want a smaller, less expensive, less 'commercial' festival there are 100s to choose from

[serginhowardinho]

I certainly agree that Glastonbury is getting expensive nowadays, but when put into context against other festivals i think it more than justifies the cost.

I've bought T in the Park 2009 and Leeds 2009 tickets already. These were held at 2008 prices but still cost me around £175 including fees.

They're all bloody expensive, but having been to all three festivals on a regular basis it would be churlish to argue that the extra tenner for Glasto didn't provide massive value. People always mention the 'freebies' on the way in and the '5-day' aspect. But the most striking thing for me is just the sheer size and variety of things to do other than watch bands - and particularly after the bands have finished.

I'm in a lucky position that i can go to so many festivals but i really have to be disciplined in order to save the money. If i had to cut back and only go to one festival i kow which one it would be - the one where i felt my money went further.

I also agree with prveious posts about inflation not being the only factor in increased ticket prices. There are numerous factors at play - the minimum wage, increased disposable income, the farming industry, the demands of the bands, fuel prices and various ways of measuring economic growth/slowdown. Of course there were times when a Glasto ticket was only £75. But is suspect these are also the same times where you could buy a packet of chewing gum for 13p rather than the 50p it costs now.

Everything is relative - including value for money!

[sifi]

Interesting as it is, I don't think you can compare the cost of a Glasto ticket against inflation. The costs involved are hardly based on the standard basket of goods that inflation is based on. It's main costs - energy and fuel, the cost of booking artists - have increased astronomically over the last few years. You only have to consider the price of gigs to see that.

I think it's still good value compared to what else is out there.

[Glastonbury_2011]

Wow, was it really that cheap in 1999? How times have changed for the worst. You sure won't get any working class people at Glastontury for 175 quid a pop. The price is ridiculous this year.

[choadus]

Glasto are just trying to get back some of the cash they lost last year for messing up with a terrible lineup in 2008. And by the rumours of 2009 so far, i would say they have learnt nothing...the only band rumoured i would even think yea, cool id like to see them is Blur. real shame.

To be fair i object to paying more than 175 quid for a festi especially when you factor in travel, food, booze. they rake it in... Europe festivals are equally as good, and a bit cheaper.

But having said that Rosklide festival in Denmark has tickets for around 230 UK pounds so in that sense we are getting a good deal.

[suchacharmer]

Along the same lines of the Roskilde comparison, compared to the major American fests it is still a deal as well...

I'm a veteran of Lollapalooza, which is $195 for three days and no camping. And Coachella is even worse at $269 for three days. Granted, it's America so everything sucks, and our dollar isn't exactly strong, but the bands we get at both of these are usually nowhere near the quality of Glastonbury.

[choadus]

Still tho I must say I would love to go to the States and do a festival out there for the lols! Alot of my fave bands never play the UK and seem to only leg around the US.