Glastonbury headliners are paid significantly less than what they might command at other major festivals. While the exact figures are kept private, it's known that the festival organisers prioritize donating to charities, leading to lower artist fees.
One musician, whose band had reached arena status by the time they played the Pyramid Stage (not as a headliner), told The Independent that they were paid between £80,000 to £100,000 to play for around an hour at the festival, which was “lower” than what they would typically demand in that kind of slot.
The people behind Glastonbury, Michael and Emily Eavis, haven't shied away from discussions about their different approach to artist fees; Michael revealed: "I paid £200,000 for Paul McCartney and for Coldplay, and although it sounds a lot, they could have charged me far more."
The cost of Glastonbury Festival: Rod Stewart reveals how much he was paid - full story below 👇 Paid him £120k...he paid out £300k to fly his band in & out... Cold play paid £200k .. Rodriguez was paid £½m..
Profits from Glastonbury Festival double to £5.9m. Glastonbury Festival has reported that profits more than doubled last year, as it faces criticism for being too "corporate". The festival, based in Pilton, Somerset, brought in £5.9m in pre-tax profits for the year to March 2024 - up from £2.9m the year before.
The Uncomfortable Truth About Pay-to-Play Glastonbury
Where do Glastonbury profits go?
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Olivia Rodrigo will be closing out Glastonbury Festival 2025, with Rod Stewart performing the Legend's spot - here's who's performing on Sunday, June 29. Will this be over soon? ... I can smell it from here and am genuinely yet to hear a clip of a performance where the singer wasn't badly out of tune.
Michael Eavis, the founder of Glastonbury Festival is reportedly worth £1.2million. The philanthropist who charged £1 per ticket at the first-ever Glastonbury Festival in 1970, pays himself an annual salary of just £60,000. Despite the festival's humble origins, it is now one of the biggest festivals in the world.
How much are Glastonbury tickets? This year, a general admission Glastonbury ticket set you back £378.50, plus an extra £10.25 for postage and packing per order. Coach tickets cost the general admission price, plus the cost of a coach fare, and a £2.75 order fee.
🎪 With the news confirmed by Emily Eavis that Glastonbury Festivals 2026 will not take place, we take a look at why the festival has a fallow year every five years.
Since 1981, the festival has been organised by local farmer and site owner Michael Eavis (through his company Glastonbury Festivals Ltd). Eavis ran the festival with his wife Jean until her death in 1999, before co-organising the event with his daughter Emily Eavis.
She had previously agreed to headline the Pyramid Stage in 2020, only for the Covid-19 pandemic to intervene and put paid to that year's festival. Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis, daughter of the event's founder Michael Eavis, said in 2022: 'I think we've got Taylor next time she's doing some touring.
Entertainment was provided at over 100 stages across five days, with general sale tickets priced £335. “The total cost of putting on the 2023 Glastonbury Festival was approximately £62 million, paid across 922 organisations providing services to the festival,” says the report.
Anyone planning to bring a campervan or caravan in 2025 will need to book their own campervan/caravan tickets (£200 per ticket for a regular pitch; or £300 for oversized vehicles) and will need to present both their named campervan/caravan ticket and Festival tickets to be able to park in these fields.
The music festival takes a hiatus every five years to avoid causing irreparable damage to the working pastures of Worthy Farm. Co-organiser Emily Eavis said: "The fallow year is important because it gives the land a rest, it gives the cows a chance to be out for longer and reclaim their land."
This edition of the festival became famous after anti-Israel and pro-Palestine statements from the bands Kneecap and Bob Vylan led to international political controversy.
Glastonbury Festival is the largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world and a template for all the festivals that have come after it. Glastonbury Festival's worldwide reputation means that the council has a huge responsibility to make sure that it undertakes its statutory duties professionally.
Glastonbury Festival ticket sales were reduced for 2025 to avoid overcrowding, says organiser. The first group of tickets for the 2025 festival sold out in 30 minutes, with the second lot selling out in fewer than 40.
Bestival organiser Rob Da Bank has previously said Glastonbury is "the one show that artists will play for free or for a reduced price. He explained: "They cap their budget and even the headliners don't get paid more than £500,000 I think, which is cheap for some of the headliners and they've had a lot of them.
Tickets cost £373.50, plus a £5 booking fee - an increase of £18.50 on 2024. In a post on X, Glastonbury Festival said: "Tickets for Glastonbury 2025 have now Sold Out. "Thanks to everyone who bought one and sorry to those who missed out, on a morning when demand was much higher than supply.
Sir Athelston Joseph Michael Eavis CBE (born 17 October 1935) is an English dairy farmer and the co-creator of the Glastonbury Festival, which takes place at his farm in Pilton, Somerset.
Deftones have pulled out of their Glastonbury 2025 performance – Skepta's stepping in as a short-notice replacement. Glastonbury took to social media on Saturday afternoon (June 28) to share that Deftones have been “forced to cancel tonight's 8.30pm Other Stage performance due to illness in the band.”
— For those who do or don't know: Glastonbury takes 'fallow' years every five years to let the farm, the cows (and the promoters) take a breath and everyone return reenergized. With that said... 2026 will be a fallow year, and the event will be back in 2027.
