£73million impact of Glastonbury Festival

Glastonbury Festival (including the Glastonbury Extravaganza and the Equinox 'Pilton' Party) benefits the worldwide economy by a staggering £73million reveals a unique study for Mendip District Council published today about the economic impact of the Somerset event.

The study, the first of its kind to concentrate on Glastonbury Festival was carried out by Bristol-based Baker Associates. The aim of the survey was to fully understand the economic effects of the festival, and help to support the planning of future years.

John Baker from Baker Associates explained, "We were commissioned by Mendip District Council and Glastonbury Festivals to carry out the study, which is one of the first to focus on the overall economic impact of the festival, and to improve understanding of its impacts on various areas of the local and regional economy."

The largest Festival in the UK has already won national awards for its partnership working between the festival organisers, Mendip District Council and other agencies. The report gives the first amazing insight into the world-renowned music Festival and the £73m gross impact it has on the UK and international economies.

John Baker adds, "The study also reports on other areas that are linked to its impact on the economy, and how these issues can be looked at in the future to further build on the economic benefits that the Glastonbury Festival could bring to Mendip."

The report also reveals how much the Glastonbury Festival has helped the fabric of the village, some of these initiatives have included over recent years providing land and building materials for affordable village housing, building the new Pilton Working Men's Club, renovating the Glastonbury Abbey Tythe Barn in Pilton and supporting the establishment of the Pilton Barn Trust. As well as building the pavilion, football pitch, and tennis courts in Pilton Playing Fields, and improving the fabric and facilities of Glastonbury's library.

The report reveals some interesting figures and the following points are just an insight into this amazing Festival, including:

A crowd of 177,500 people attended the Glastonbury Festival in 2007, with an average spend per person of £293.24.

Total spending at the festival site in Pilton by revellers and traders was about £25.6million, and off-site spend was about £26.5million, giving a total spend of about £52million directly linked to the festival.

Estimated spending by Glastonbury Festivals associated with staging the 2007 festival was £21.2million (over the period November 2006 to October 2007).

Therefore the gross spend linked to the 2007 Glastonbury Festivals (including the Glastonbury Extravaganza and the Equinox 'Pilton' Party) was more than £73million.

Councillor Harvey Siggs, leader of Mendip District Council, said about the report, "Glastonbury Festival is such a huge event for Mendip. This study has revealed valuable information that, until now, has not been identified before. We've always recognised that Glastonbury Festival is an important event for our district and the country, but have never been able to judge just how important it is.

"The study has provided some important data which will not only help those involved to plan future festivals but also to look at how the festival affects Mendip. This information will enable us to better understand how it affects our local economy, which is so important to many aspects of our lives and business, and has shown us in detail how large scale events impact on our local area.

"I hope this study can be used by other festivals and organisations as a key educational tool to demonstrate the value and difficulties of large scale events."

copy of the full reportfrom www.mendip.gov.uk is available here in PDF form, for further information see www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk.



Glastonbury Festival 2008 will take place at Worthy Farm, Pilton, near Glastonbury, Somerset from Friday 27th to Sunday 29th June, with the gates opening for early arrivals on Wednesday 25th June, that's five days of festival fun with something like 2,000 performances at 50 or so venues, including music, cabaret, theatre, circus, a fantastic Kidz area, poetry, green crafts and information and loads, loads more ... Glastonbury Festival is much more than just the music, so make sure you check it all out!

Anyone wishing to buy a ticket for this year's Glastonbury Festival who didn't register is being offered a new chance to register when it re-opens at 4pm on Tuesday 8th April. Please note that there will be no editing facility for late registrations, so please ensure that all your details are correct, and that your photo is of a suitable size and standard, before submitting your details.

Registration, involves filling in a simple form and supplying a passport photograph, and full details can be found at www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk.

The registration process was implemented in 2007 as a measure to stop the touting of Festival tickets - which it has achieved successfully otherwise there would be no tickets left. By preventing touting, the Festival is able to make sure tickets aren't sold at inflated prices, and we can all buy tickets at face value.

Festival goers who register now can tick a box to enable their registration for this year's event to be eligible to buy tickets in 2009 and 2010 making it even easier to buy tickets for the next couple of years.

If you've registered for Glastonbury, then why not enter the eFestivals' competition to win yourself a pair of tickets here!

The line-up for all the Festival stages will be announced on Thursday, 1st of May. To get the best idea of the acts you'll see over all the stages at the festival in June make sure you keep an eye on our Glastonbury 2008 rumours, which will build up into the most comprehensive list available anywhere before the full line-up announcement is made.

Tickets for Glastonburyare on sale either online or through a free phone call from a normal landline.

The ticket costs £155 for a weekend ticket, plus £5 booking fee per ticket and £4 post and packaging per order. To buy tickets for this year's Glastonbury, you'll need to have pre-registered and have your registration number and postcode to hand, plus the registration number and postcode of anyone else you're buying for.

Tickets can be purchased through www.seetickets.com or by phone from 0800 079 2008 for UK buyers and 0044 1159 934 183 for overseas buyers. Overseas ticket purchases can only be made using either Visa or Mastercard credit cards. UK sales will not be accepted on the International Ticket Sales Line, or any other Seetickets telephone lines.

No one other than the above are allowed to sell tickets, and alternative outlets offering them should not be used.

You will need your debit card to hand to give all the necessary information to complete your purchase, including the security number on reverse.

A registration number may only be used once, which will prevent inadvertent duplicate purchases. You are only able to use one card per transaction - therefore we recommend you pool money into one account before buying for other people.

Remember that this year the Festival wants festival-goers to work them to Love the farm, Leave no Trace by travelling light, only bringing what you're willing to carry home. When you buy your tent and camping gear, don't buy the cheapest, get something you'll want to keep. when it's time to go, pack up your stuff and take it away.

Latest Updates