£200 barrier breached

[MEGABOWL]

I despair

you might not be a tory (you think), but you could write editorials for the Daily Mail...call me old fashioned, but discounting ticket prices for the unwaged is hardly a Trotskyist move.

Were you ever a student? If you were, I assume that you voluntarily gave up any student discount on the grounds that you shouldnt get something for nothing?

[MEGABOWL]

This. I never particularly got why the jumping the fence thing was seen as such a right of passage. Tickets were even less back then and most of the people jumping could have afforded it. Lo and behold, ME was forced to erect a massive ****ing wall, insurance and permits became more expensive, and prices went up.

[abdoujaparov]

I was a student yes (only a couple of years ago). But I don't see why someone should be given a discounted ticket because they cannot afford it. Glastonbury is a luxury, not a necessity.

If you can't afford to go on holiday, you don't go.

[abdoujaparov]

But how many tickets do you allocate for the unwaged? How do you know that the unwaged people getting the tickets are nice people who are going to add to the atmosphere or horrible feckless idiots who are going to cause trouble and in fact are more detrimental to the festival than the posh people (or working-class kids who saved up all year for their £205) who would have got those tickets otherwise?

[smudger]

For some reason there's blissful nostalgia for that period even though like you say, it's the reason the fence is up and the festival lost its licence. Funny thing is, the lads I knew who used to go in the late 90s and jump the fence were scumbags who went to rob tents, rip people off with fake drugs and fight with scousers who were doing the same

Edited October 8, 2012 by smudger

[indieboymatt]

So, did you refuse any student discount then? Did you avoid alcohol because it was a luxury not a necessity?

I'm not talking about handing out free tickets in the street, I'm talking about a discount for the unwaged...like you might get in a lot of theatres and other similar venues...

but then I suppose that the unemployed shouldnt be allowed to enjoy themselves, should they?

[Spindles]

but then I suppose that the unemployed shouldnt be allowed to enjoy themselves, should they?

[mungo57]

I work, I earn £20k a year, but I still don't like paying £200 for a fest!

However, I accept that they would charge less if they could, particularly the Eavises. I also see that Glastonbury is excellent value for money, and that for that money there are some magnanimous things to do on site, and unlike other festivals who charge the same money, you get an extra 2 days at Glasto and you dont pay any more (citing Reading Festival and the early bird charge here).

So on balance, Glasto is still affordable.

I am sorry, but £200 for fun and excitement for 5 days is good value. Look at last years headliners. U2 would be at least £50 a ticket at their own show, as would Coldplay and Beyonce. Someone who saw all 3 would then only need to see 2/3 more bands to get their money's worth from the ticket!

I only don't like paying the money as I am a tight fisted git (sorry to say) the only vices I have are tobacco and alcohol and I quit smoking fags when the price of BH Silver went more than £4.50 a pack and switched to backy lol

[abdoujaparov]

Yes, I did use student discount. Yes, I did drink.

Edited October 8, 2012 by abdoujaparov

[MEGABOWL]

On the first point, I'm arguing a point of principle, not designing a new ticketing system so it's basically an irrelevant question. let's say 10% for the sake of argument

I assume that your second point is taking the piss

[indieboymatt]

then you, sir, are a massive hypocrite

[abdoujaparov]

Why would it be taking the piss? If we're socialy engineering the crowd what are we basing it on?

[abdoujaparov]

But I don't see why there should be a discount for Glastonbury.

And you can't just cut out part of my post and claim I'm a hypocrite

[Rufus Gwertigan]

Neil summing up what I mean far more succinctly. This ticket price piece is a massive red herring in my view.

And I really can't explain the lack of ethnic diversity either. The only thing I can think of is that the vast majority of ethnic minorities live in major cities like London, Manchester, Birmignham, Leeds - and maybe the Somerset countryside isn't too appealing.. but I don't think that argument really works because the Glasto crowd seems to be fairly city-based anyway...

[rubenz]

Neil summing up what I mean far more succinctly. This ticket price piece is a massive red herring in my view.

And I really can't explain the lack of ethnic diversity either. The only thing I can think of is that the vast majority of ethnic minorities live in major cities like London, Manchester, Birmignham, Leeds - and maybe the Somerset countryside isn't too appealing.. but I don't think that argument really works because the Glasto crowd seems to be fairly city-based anyway...

[Aarron B]

Brilliant value. When a gig alone costs £40/60 these days.

[king of carott flowers]

yep.

. However all I see if a site getting more exciting and better prepared every year with more choices than ever. There is nowhere on earth you can possibly get so much for your money than here.

So if someone decides not to come because its passed £200.....goodbye!

[Peroni]

Wow.... what a debate. I don't know whos right but i have enjoyed the viewpoints... its a tough call.

But im an ethnic minority, who wears hunters but reads the guardian and has been lucky enough to afford a ticket for the last 3 festivals.. what do I know.

[rubenz]

Umm reveals a lot there..Your want better prepared, more choices and to get so much for yout money..

Once apon a time we were happy with a band, snakebite, maybe some drugs and entertained ourselfs.

[MEGABOWL]

sorry, I just had no idea what you're talking about...of course, if there was a discount for the unwaged some of the people who took advantage of it would be c**ts...just as a proportion of people who go to the festival now are c**ts. Not sure what your point was

[Verbal]

Being better prepared doesn't mean people aren't willing or able to entertain themselves, just the amount of work and new pipes they put in so the site is less likely to flood is one example

Or is it against the rules to not want to lose all your possessions in 3 feet of water

[Ed209]

Read this in the evening standard on my commute home tonight. (Awful paper, but it beats staring at the tube map for 20 minutes). Make of it what you will, but it says we each give about £3.75 of our ticket price to ME, and £12 of it makes up the pre-tax profit which is mostly distributed to charities. The rest is used to put on the festival. Scandal

Newly published accounts for Glastonbury Festival 2011 Limited showed revenues of £32.2 million, up 5.2% on a year earlier.

Despite the recession and tough times for many other music festivals, turnover has grown steadily in the past four years from £23.6 million in 2008, an increase of 36%.

Founder Michael Eavis and his daughter Emily, who are both directors, are known for running their five-day festival at only a small profit and eschewing most commercial sponsorship.

But gross profits still rose to £22.5 million in 2011 against £21.7 million a year earlier. Pre-tax profit slipped to £1.8 million from £2.6 million after expenses. Glastonbury shares much of the proceeds with three charities, Oxfam, Greenpeace and Water Aid.

The highest-paid director earned only £60,000. Eavis also receives £500,000 for renting his farm in Somerset for the festival because of “loss of earnings”.

[king of carott flowers]

Indeed, but Ithink you are deliberately missing the point..

[thesecretingredientiscrime]

But I don't see why there should be a discount for Glastonbury.

And you can't just cut out part of my post and claim I'm a hypocrite

Edited October 8, 2012 by thesecretingredientiscrime

[Derby_Dave]

It's more the fact they cannot afford the cost after years of struggling, and £200 is the upper limit they set themselves to say the time is right to end their long association with the festival.

but as you say, poor people...Goodbye!