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1.3 million - does Michael Eavis know something we don't know ?


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1 minute ago, eFestivals said:

I reckon the very high numbers I've been told are accurate numbers for something, but not the "people trying to buy tickets" they were told to me as.

I guess that's cos someone has misunderstood what they've been told.

Or just likes spinning the numbers to make the festival look in the best light? Or too cynical?

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I think the festival is much more popular than it was in 2008

2008 was preceded by a quagmire which I am sure put a lot of people off

Also , the festival really upped their game in 2007/2008 by  introducing the Park and then in 2008 developing the SW corner with Shangri La and Arcadia. That introduced a whole new crowd to the festival

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5 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

Or just likes spinning the numbers to make the festival look in the best light? Or too cynical?

Not impossible - tho there's more than just the festival that could be spinning the numbers. The ticket agent or any technology suppliers they use could also be spinning the numbers to make themselves look good, too.

I prefer to go with the 'misunderstood' angle, as I know these numbers will have been thru at least 3 people before getting to me. For a non-techie it's quite easy for (say) 'visits' to turn into 'people' when they're passing the info on, I reckon.

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Is festival attendance in general declining? (glasto aside)

I'm aware Boomtown has sold out but not aware of any other UK based festivals which have.

Perhaps the volume / selection of festivals there are these days means the punters are spread out more.

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14 minutes ago, dingbat2 said:

I think the festival is much more popular than it was in 2008

I agree, tho I don't think it's hugely more in actual ticket buying attempts (it's more people casually saying they'd love to go, I reckon).

 

Quote

2008 was preceded by a quagmire which I am sure put a lot of people off

yep ... but to not instantly sell-out it would have needed to have put off 1/3rd of people, if the chances of getting a ticket are normally 2 in 3.

I don't reckon it put of as many as 1/3rd by something which wasn't statistically likely to happen the next year - but there's only guesses we can make about this.

 

Quote

Also , the festival really upped their game in 2007/2008 by  introducing the Park and then in 2008 developing the SW corner with Shangri La and Arcadia. That introduced a whole new crowd to the festival

Yep, I do agree ... but I'm still far from sure it could sell a further 70,000 tickets.

Edited by eFestivals
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3 minutes ago, JoeyT said:

Is festival attendance in general declining? (glasto aside)

i'd say it is, tho not massively so far. Festivals have stopped being at the forefront of fashion in the way that they were.

 

3 minutes ago, JoeyT said:

I'm aware Boomtown has sold out but not aware of any other UK based festivals which have.

Perhaps the volume / selection of festivals there are these days means the punters are spread out more.

there's also a number of far-smaller ones that have sold out, and a fair number of both big & small dance fests that sell well/quickly.

But of course these at best are only replacing the tens of thousands who've been lost from V, T & R/L in their instant sell-out days.

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45 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

yep ... but to not instantly sell-out it would have needed to have put off 1/3rd of people, if the chances of getting a ticket are normally 2 in 3.

I don't reckon it put of as many as 1/3rd by something which wasn't statistically likely to happen the next year - but there's only guesses we can make about this.

Just using my lot as an example .... there were over 20 of us in 2007 and 6 in 2008. All of 'em because of the weather and no longer feeling it gave value for money and wasn't worth the risk. Statistically insignificant, I know, but it's the theory I stick with for 2008.

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4 minutes ago, Fishman said:

Just using my lot as an example .... there were over 20 of us in 2007 and 6 in 2008. All of 'em because of the weather and no longer feeling it gave value for money and wasn't worth the risk. Statistically insignificant, I know, but it's the theory I stick with for 2008.

And my own lot? Same number.  :P

Don't forget, festival attendances are fluid anyway, it's never all of the same people each year - so it's quite possibly the case that Glasto would have been over around that time for those people anyway, without the bad weather. 

Anyway, I don't doubt the weather had a strong impact on demand the following year, I just don't reckon it killed as much as one third of the demand.

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i dont think festivals have fallen out of fashion its just that the market is so incredibly segmented now and the ease of access to European festivals for similar money (what you save on tickets you spend on flights) means that the punters are spread a lot more thinly.

think about bestival when it was at the top of its game, Croatia wasn't an established festival destination and many of the mid sized UK events didn't exist, or werent as popular as they are now. Boomtown didn't exist. EU festivals and the variety of mid sized events subsequently stole their crowd.

 

 

Edited by Memory Man
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13 minutes ago, Memory Man said:

i dont think festivals have fallen out of fashion its just that the market is so incredibly segmented now and the ease of access to European festivals for similar money (what you save on tickets you spend on flights) means that the punters are spread a lot more thinly.

think about bestival when it was at the top of its game, Croatia wasn't an established festival destination and many of the mid sized UK events didn't exist, or werent as popular as they are now. Boomtown didn't exist. EU festivals and the variety of mid sized events subsequently stole their crowd.

 

 

oh, I don't disagree, the festival market has changed.

But it's also fallen out of fashion. There's no longer top brands queuing up to have their name associated with festivals, that sort of thing, and less about particular festivals it's just so cool to be seen at. All that sort of stuff has moved on to other things.

 

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19 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

oh, I don't disagree, the festival market has changed.

But it's also fallen out of fashion. There's no longer top brands queuing up to have their name associated with festivals, that sort of thing, and less about particular festivals it's just so cool to be seen at. All that sort of stuff has moved on to other things.

 

I think there has also been a rise in inner-city festivals, no camping and go home at night (or stay in hotels) thats having an impact in the traditional countryside festies.

Also more large arena venues that in the past so bands are looking at these, easier to sell 10~20k tickets than 60k+ and a lot less costs to run that a festie or even large outdoor gigs (who would have through of Metallica playing arena shows and not stadiums)

ta, D

 

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3 minutes ago, MinionDave said:

I think there has also been a rise in inner-city festivals, no camping and go home at night (or stay in hotels) thats having an impact in the traditional countryside festies.

Scotland being an obvious example, with the shift from T in the Park to TRNSMT, and difficult to see a large scale camping festival being attempted again in the near future.

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7 minutes ago, UEF said:

Similar drop-off in numbers from our group too, but I had put that down to people stopping wanting to go to festivals and inexplicably having children instead

yeah, festie-goers are mostly just-passing-thru, really.

For the larger festies, success comes from keeping the newbies coming in rather than by trying to keep the people it already has.

 

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On 6/11/2018 at 9:37 AM, dingbat2 said:

As mentioned above I guess the 1.3 million refers to the number of registrations. I am not sure how many of those would be multiple registrations or inactive registrations, for people who go (or don't go) one year and then don't try again. I cant remember if/when registrations lapse any more, I didnt think they lapsed any more? Divide 1.3 million by 138000 and it would indicate 1 in 9 chance, if all 1.3 million were actively trying for tickets each year.

I dont believe there is a 1 in 7 chance of getting a ticket. I feel its a lot better than that (1 in 2 or better?) having been lucky enough to bag a ticket every year for the last 10 Glastos. The chance of me doing that every year at odds of 1 in 7 would be 300 million to 1 ! I need to be buying lottery tickets if that was the case. I do try bloody hard each year to bag them though

For every one of you that gets tickets every year there will be plenty who only get them 1 year in 10. 

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2 minutes ago, Smeble said:

For every one of you that gets tickets every year there will be plenty who only get them 1 year in 10. 

yup.

But if there's 140,000 tickets and (say) 210,000 potential buyers, the average chance of a ticket is still 2 in 3, even tho some people only get them every ten years.

The number of tickets other large festivals manage to sell very strongly suggests that the demand for Glasto tickets can't be stratospheric (even tho it's clearly the most popular of them all).

So there might be (plucks stupidly large number from the air) 400,000 potential buyers, but very definitely not 1.3M.

I suspect it's more-likely in the 200,000-250,000 range.

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On 6/11/2018 at 10:37 AM, stuartbert two hats said:

That doesn't seem to happen much with Glastonbury, thus the frustration when the tickets sell out after you've entered your details and hit submit.

I actually managed to bag 2 after it was officially sold out for the 2017 sale. Think it was about 7 minutes after

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3 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

yup.

But if there's 140,000 tickets and (say) 210,000 potential buyers, the average chance of a ticket is still 2 in 3, even tho some people only get them every ten years.

The number of tickets other large festivals manage to sell very strongly suggests that the demand for Glasto tickets can't be stratospheric (even tho it's clearly the most popular of them all).

So there might be (plucks stupidly large number from the air) 400,000 potential buyers, but very definitely not 1.3M.

I suspect it's more-likely in the 200,000-250,000 range.

Someone could probably work out how many people were trying for tickets if they knew how many the system can take simultaneously before the queue kicks in. Whilst I agree it’s not 1.3 m I’d be amazed if only 250k want to go to Glastonbury every year.

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8 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

yup.

But if there's 140,000 tickets and (say) 210,000 potential buyers, the average chance of a ticket is still 2 in 3, even tho some people only get them every ten years.

 

Even then, that supposes everyone tries once (or an equal number of times)

Try more often = increases your chances

Try for longer (hours rather than minutes) = increase your chances

Have a group trying for you = increase your chances

Be willing to use the resale = increase your chances

Add all 4 together and your likelihood of going approaches 99%

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Just now, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Did you actually know at the time that it was sold out, and kept on trying anyway?

Yeah, I'd already bagged mine but was trying for two others. After seeing it sell out I tried for a bit longer and managed to bag some. Card payment failure maybe? Not sure how it would work.

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1 minute ago, Smeble said:

I’d be amazed if only 250k want to go to Glastonbury every year.

that number of course depends what you're counting.

There's shit loads of extra people who'd go, if given the easy opportunity. But the opportunity isn't easy (which is why they want to go), so they don't bother with the hassle and aren't among those trying for tickets on T-Day.

So I'm working my 200,000-250,000 on the numbers I reckon are actually trying for tickets.

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