The soaring cost of Glastonbury: From the £1 entry fee in 1970, to next years eyewatering £378.50, how festivals ticket prices have risen by nearly 70% in just 10 years
When Sir Michael Eavis first started hosting festivalgoers at Worthy Farm in 1970, the debt-ridden farmer admitted he was desperate to clear his overdraft.
When Sir Michael Eavis first started hosting festivalgoers at Worthy Farm in 1970, the debt-ridden farmer admitted he was desperate to clear his overdraft.
Working as an English dairy farmer in the rolling hills of Somerset, Mr Eavis set out to wipe his debt by venturing into the hospitality industry as he launched the Pilton Pop, Folk and Blues Festival.
Back then, ticket holders paid just £1 (£13 in todays money) for the inaugural festival, which featured just a handful of performers including headliner T-Rex.
As a 35-year-old farmer in 1970, Mr Eavis told the BBC: Im just an average sort of fella - Im not all that cunning. I do enjoy it, but obviously Ive got an overdraft and Ive got to try and clear it... I think this is the quickest way of clearing my overdraft.
Not even Mr Eavis could have predicted that Worthy Farm would go on to play host to Britains most iconic festival - Glastonbury.
But the soaring cost of Glastonbury can be laid bare today - as hard-pressed music lovers may be plunged into their own overdrafts if they are willing to fork out an eye-watering £378.50 (£373.50 + £5 booking fee) next summer.
MailOnline can reveal that the staggering cost for 2025 marks a 68 per cent rise in the price of a ticket in the last 10 years. In 2015, the price of a ticket was £225, while back in 2000, festivalgoers were paying just £87.
The first ever Glastonbury, known as Pilton Pop, Folk & Blues Festival in 1970, cost just £1
But outraged Glastonbury fans have been left stunned by having to pay £378.50 for a 2025 ticket
Sir Michael Eavis, speaking in 1970 (pictured), said that he set up his Worthy Farm festival to clear his debt
Sir Michael Eavis was knighted for his services to music and charity at Windsor Castle in April
Furious fans have questioned the need for the price hike, with one simply asking: Whats the justification for the huge price hike over the last decade?
Through the years, Glastonbury has increased incrementally from £1 in 1970 to £16 by 1985, £65 by 1995 and £112 in 2005. From 2005 to 2025, it has risen by a staggering £266.50 (238 per cent).
In the second year at Worthy Farm, revellers could even attend the festival for free.
Last year, 200,000 music lovers descended on Worthy Farm to watch Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA take to the Pyramid Stage.
But Glastonbury 2024, which saw ticket holders pay £355 + £5 booking fee, was marred by complaints over empty crowds, miming, technical issues and inflated food and drink prices.
Organisers will be hoping Glastonbury 2025 runs more smoothly, with a fallow year then planned for 2026.
But Eavis and Co have already left some fans furious again after announcing a huge shake-up for buying tickets today.
The organisers are set to introduce an online queue for this years ticket sale, which is taking place on November 14 and 17.
This will mean that anyone who logs onto the Seetickets website before the sale starts at 6pm or 9am respectively will be randomly assorted a place in a queue along with thousands of others.
In 1982, advance tickets were just £8 and Van Morrison was headlining at Worthy Farm in Somerset
In 1992, Glastonbury tickets were still less than £50. They have skyrocketed over the last few decades
In 2024, Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA headlined on the Pyramid Stage, where tickets cost £360
They will then be met with a progress bar indicating how close they are to reaching the booking page. Once this runs outs, fans will be given 10 minutes to enter the website and purchase up to six tickets for the festival.
While the move is supposedly meant to make the process much fairer for Glastonbury hopefuls, some have claimed they will no longer be rewarded for their persistence and could see huge numbers of less devoted fans taking part.
In yet another shake-up, the statement also revealed that using multiple devices may harm your chances at getting tickets.
Fans have been left outraged by the soaring cost of tickets since the festival first began - especially because buyers have to purchase without seeing the line-up first.
One posted: To increase by nearly 100 quid in the space of 3 years is nothing short of a disgrace. Emily Eavis talks about not wanting to look like they are exploiting it for money but between these ridiculous prices and the overcrowding, that is all I see.
And another said: I want to see a line up first please.
Earlier this year, Mr Eavis was knighted at Windsor Castle for services to music and charity.
The festival founder was pictured at Windsor Castle in April in a wheelchair receiving his honour from the Princess Royal.
Glastonbury is the largest greenfield festival in the world, drawing around 200,000 people each year, the biggest musical talent and a raft of celebrity guests.
In an interview with the official Glastonbury website, Sir Michael said his daughter Emily, with whom he runs the festival, had brought him the official letter about his knighthood, adding: I was really surprised to see it, actually. Why did they choose me, I wonder?
What can I say, really? Ive done quite a lot of stuff in my life and Ive always been fairly sure that I was doing the right thing.
Greenpeace, Oxfam and WaterAid all receive donations from the festival and the event aims to raise around £2 million per year, which also helps hundreds of local causes.
