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2009 v 2019 - why are tickets so hard to get now?


Jet_Moderno
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57 minutes ago, FakeEmpire said:

Hugh Jass covers most of the obvious reasons.

I think that the "Beyonce" effect cannot be undestimated.  The coverage of her show in particular really opened up the festival to so many people who hadn't previously considered Glastonbury.

If you look at the time it has taken to sell out, there is an obvious shift the year after Beyonce (although there was a trend emerging at that point anyway).

2008: A day before the festival
2009: 4 months
2010: 12 hours
2011: 4 hours
2013: 1 hour 40 minutes
2014: 1 hour 27 minutes
2015: 26 minutes
2016: 33 minutes
2017: 50 minutes
2019: 36 minutes
2020: 34 minutes

 

I quite like the prospect of a “Beyoncé ruined Glastonbury” campaign to ease the disappointment of missing out this year. I always said Michelle was a much more considerate person..

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4 minutes ago, Steveb72 said:

It’s mad when you look at I went the V Festival in 2009 and think that sold out in about 2-3 hours, were as Glasto struggled to sell out that year.

Yeah but look where all the V attendees have gone.... ;)

Right, off to queue up for an hour in The Park to get a photo of me stood in front of some massive angel wings for Instagram
 

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21 minutes ago, priest17 said:

Did it really take 12 hours in 2010? I'm sure it sold out when I was still on my shift at Tescos which will have been till about 1pm (I didn't have a smart phone or anything at that point).

Yes, 2010 was something like 12 hours - it didn't sell out in the initial rush, then once that subsided and people realised they could get tickets at their leisure it sold out later in the day once they picked up the last few tickets.

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I think selling tickets in October is also a factor. No-one has will have made too many plans for summer 2020 so it's easy to fit the festival into your calendar. Whereas a later ticket date would have meant more people saying "can't, already have plans".  

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54 minutes ago, priest17 said:

But it sold really well in 2007 and 05 didn't it? And the years before that were down to internet restraints, I've read some horror stories of people refreshing for 12 hours. It had a dip when the weather was shit a couple of goes in a row and people were resistant to the music change but since the weather was kind in 2009 and the line-up was safe its been a nightmare to get tickets since.

Did it really take 12 hours in 2010? I'm sure it sold out when I was still on my shift at Tescos which will have been till about 1pm (I didn't have a smart phone or anything at that point).

2005 & 2007 both sold out in 2-3 hours.

2004 was about 12 hours and I think 2003 was 24 hours.

 

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For better or worse, its become mainstream and part of the must do events of  the summer. Partly down to people sharing what is going on there on social media, the fact the media (as lot of them now go themselves) no longer present it as a bunch of hippies rolling around in the mud and more mainstream music acts that are global superstars.

With social media, its seeing household names like Gary Lineker turning up there making it seem "aceptable" to the masses.

 

 

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2 minutes ago, gooner1990 said:

2005 & 2007 both sold out in 2-3 hours.

2004 was about 12 hours and I think 2003 was 24 hours.

2004 was a shade over 24 hours, partly because demand was so high - that was the year where web servers and phones both crashed repeatedly. To the extent that it took down the entire Nottingham City Centre* telephone exchange at one point, leading BT to insist that the sale was moved to 9am Sunday the following year (from I think 8pm midweek) creating a legacy that remains today.

*ie seetickets offices, back then they had a proper call centre and a lot of the tickets were sold by phone.

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I remember the year it went on sale in the evening.... (03 or 04?)... got ours about midnight, stayed up getting friends for abit longer, went to bed about 3am, went to work, tried online ALL DAY at work, and got through for my last friend at I think about 5pm. Something like 20 hours later. 

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Impossible to quantify, but I reckon the demise of other major festivals, and the struggles of others plays a part. A few years ago the UK probably had too many festivals which inevitably led to the failures, plus a limited, finite number of big headline acts to book, so Glastonbury has less competiton than before.

I'm not saying it's the main reason, just another factor.

Certainly it seems harder and harder to get tickets, we've always had at least 4 or 5 groups, it's only the last 3 festivals where we are failing to get everyone with tickets on the main ticket day.

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3 minutes ago, Avalon_Fields said:

Impossible to quantify, but I reckon the demise of other major festivals, and the struggles of others plays a part. A few years ago the UK probably had too many festivals which inevitably led to the failures, plus a limited, finite number of big headline acts to book, so Glastonbury has less competiton than before.

I'm not saying it's the main reason, just another factor.

Certainly it seems harder and harder to get tickets, we've always had at least 4 or 5 groups, it's only the last 3 festivals where we are failing to get everyone with tickets on the main ticket day.

You could also say that musically there are fewer festivals with their own clear identity as well.  Yes there are things like Bloodstock and Download that cater to the metal market, ditto things like Womad or Cropredy, but the lineups across festivals like Glastonbury, Reading, IoW, Boomtown, NOS, Benicassim etc (at least on the main stages) are largely interchangeable.

No-one in that mainstream market is looking at Glastonbury these days and saying "musically it's not for me"

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2 hours ago, DareToDibble said:

To be fair I say friend but it's someone I work with.

I was genuinely staggered. They had a hospitality ticket given to them so it never came out of the general sales pot but it's still unbelievable. It was the line "Still done Glasto though!". I was stunned. Didn't even see any acts!

This beggars belief. It's like saying you 'Still done Alton Towers though!' but didn't go on the corkscrew. Or any of the other rides.

Still as long as she's convinced she has done it, I suppose she won't try for tickets ever again.

Appalling.

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2 hours ago, Hugh Jass said:

I'd say it's a mixture of factors:

  • The festival has become the cultural centre of the British summer
  • They book a wider variety of acts in higher slots than they used to
  • The perception of the festival has shifted from something that just students and hippies attend to something that pretty much everyone can do
  • Deposit scheme makes it easier and more affordable for people to go
  • Blanket coverage on the BBC
  • Two consecutive years of great weather
  • Everyone realises now that it's fucking brilliant

I would probably add: scarcity adds to demand (its like a self fulfilling prophecy) and also it seems the other big festivals have really deteriorated over the years, you seem to not hear as much about them

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59 minutes ago, incident said:

2004 was a shade over 24 hours, partly because demand was so high - that was the year where web servers and phones both crashed repeatedly. To the extent that it took down the entire Nottingham City Centre* telephone exchange at one point, leading BT to insist that the sale was moved to 9am Sunday the following year (from I think 8pm midweek) creating a legacy that remains today.

*ie seetickets offices, back then they had a proper call centre and a lot of the tickets were sold by phone.

I eventually got tickets online from a link on here at about 6am and I went into work off about 1 1/2 hours sleep! 

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2 hours ago, Penrhos said:

The size of the CV & Glamping fields doesn't help.

We wouldn't have gone in 2010 if "camping with the great unwashed" was the only option - I have a bad back and the wife is an epileptic (fortunately not photosensitive) so a bed and a decent night's sleep was essential. 

If we couldn't have hired a campervan to stay in then we'd probably have never ticked it off our bucket list.

I've seen the errors of my ways and have roughed it (with a decent inflatable bed) but the wife refuses to go unless we can take a CV.

If there was less Glamping and CV availability I suspect demand would drop considerably.  

Definitely agree with this, not that I want the campervan fields reduced as we go in one, but they make it more appealing to the older, possibly casual, attendee. I’d quite happily go in with the masses but my missus has said she won’t go if we don’t get a cv ticket. Bizarre considering our main holidays involve camping in tiny tents with less facilities than Glastonbury but she likes those little luxury’s at festivals. 

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3 minutes ago, gooner1990 said:

I eventually got tickets online from a link on here at about 6am and I went into work off about 1 1/2 hours sleep! 

A mate's girlfriend's sister worked at See in 04 and 05 and sorted us out with tickets before they went on sale. I think back then it was pretty common amongst those working there.

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2 hours ago, jimbarkanoodle said:

Its because loads of people who wouldn't normally go to a festival all now want to go and buy all the tickets. The type that shouldn't really be anywhere near a festival- those that don't like raving, drugs and staying awake for days on end. Nowadays you'll be at work and someone who is square as anything and probably isnt even into proper music will announce they are going Glastonbury, you look at them and think what an utter waste of a ticket!

So anyone who doesn’t meet with your idea of a festival attendee isn’t worthy of going? Who died and put you in charge?

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There are the "bucket list" types, although I do hope some will actually get Glastonbury and then want to come back year after year.

Also if you look at the people like Hugh Jass who list their festival attendances in their signature, it is noticeable for many that there are relatively few Readings, Leeds and others, yet Glastonbury is there every year they can grab tickets.

I have done Reading and Leeds in the past but wouldn't entertain it now, I'm nearly 50 and would feel like a Granddad.  Glastonbury I feel average aged, can wander and chat to anyone, and be constantly blown away by the vibe and happiness.     

So is it that once you have done Glastonbury you have found the best Festival and will always want to try and go again.  All/most of the other festivals don't hold a candle to it.

 

 

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