If you were amongst the crowds descending on Worthy Farm this year, you’ll be well aware that to get there, you basically had to take out a small mortgage. Tickets to see the likes of Lana del Rey and Elton John cost an eye-watering £335 – and they’re expected to rack up even further in 2024.
And Glasto certainly isn’t the only festival to see major jumps in cost over the last few years. New analysis by travel money specialists No1 Currency has exposed the music festivals with the fastest rising ticket prices across the globe.
And not unsuprisingly, it seems that the cost of UK festivals is rising faster than anywhere else. Out of the world’s top ten festivals to see the biggest price surges, seven were based in Britain. Revellers at Reading and Leeds this year have paid 34.4 percent more to attend than last year, making it the second highest increase worldwide after Open’er in Poland (which inflated by 42.1 percent in sterling terms).
London's All Points East didn’t fall far behind, with tickets to see Stormzy et al rising from £68 to £91 from 2022 to 2023 – a 33.8 percent increase. Then came Cornish surfing and music fest Boardmasters, for which attendees have paid 30.3 percent more than last year.
Despite being one of the country’s most spenny weekenders, Glastonbury only came fourth on the list of UK events, with a 19.6 percent increase in ticket prices. Creamfields and Wireless followed with an 18.2 percent and 17 percent increase respectively.
These are the percentage increases of ten UK festivals between summer 2022 and 2023, according to No1 Currency:
- Reading and Leeds (34.4 percent)
- All Points East (33.8 percent)
- Boardmasters (30.3 percent)
- Glastonbury (19.6 percent)
- Creamfields (18.2 percent)
- Wireless (17.0 percent)
- Latitude (12.2 percent)
- Isle of White (10.3 percent)
- Download (2.6 percent)
- Parklife (0 percent)
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