Glastonbury Festival is owned and organized by founder Michael Eavis and his daughter, Emily Eavis, who now holds a controlling stake in the operational company. The event is held on their land at Worthy Farm in Somerset, England.
Organisation. 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.
There is better news for the festival in its latest financial results, which revealed £5.9m of pre-tax profits in the year ending in March 2024, up from £2.9m in its previous financial year.
GFEL is a private limited company responsible for staging Glastonbury Festival, the Glastonbury Extravaganza & Pilton Party. GFL, also a private limited company, is responsible for the management of the festival site & infrastructure to enable GFEL to stage the Glastonbury Festival.
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Where does Glastonbury money go?
We have supported charities working with our rivers and seas such as The Rivers Trust and Project Seagrass, and organisations focused on alleviating climate impact such as Onboard:Earth and Client Earth. Closer to home, we are delighted to have made donations to over 40 local causes.
There will be no Glastonbury Festival in 2026 because the organizers are taking a planned "fallow year" to allow {Worthy Farm} to rest, regenerate the land, and let the dairy cows reclaim their pastures, a tradition held roughly every fifth year to prevent damage and give everyone involved a break. This gives the farmland a chance to recover from the massive event before it returns in 2027.
Meanwhile, Michael Eavis has said he paid £200,000 each for Paul McCartney and Coldplay to headline the festival: “Although it sounds a lot, they could have charged me far more.” There were unverified reports last year that Dua Lipa was paid around £200,000 when she made her debut as Glastonbury headliner on the ...
A recent flurry of media headlines suggests that Michael Eavis, founder of the iconic Glastonbury Festival, has neatly sidestepped an £80 million Inheritance Tax (IHT) bill by transferring ownership of the festival's operating company to his daughter, Emily.
The event also sustained over 1,100 jobs across the UK — including 325 in Somerset. Around 80 staff work year‑round for the festival office, creating roughly 55 full‑time roles.
The 1975 finally bring their incendiary show back to Worthy Farm to headline the Pyramid Stage on the Friday, while Olivia Rodrigo will close out the Festival on the Sunday night – headlining the Pyramid for her first appearance at Glastonbury since her memorable Other Stage set in 2022.
How much does an artist get paid to play at Glastonbury?
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.
Glastonbury 2025 general admission tickets cost £378.50, including a £5 booking fee, plus postage and packing. A £75 deposit per person was paid in November 2024, with the balance due in April 2025. Coach travel packages cost extra, with fares varying by departure location.
Glastonbury organisers Sir Michael and Emily Eavis were awarded honorary fellowships from Goldsmiths in 2016. In 1970, inspired by a recent open-air Led Zeppelin concert, Sir Michael Eavis founded and hosted the Pilton Pop, Blues & Folk Festival, on his Somerset dairy farm.
Tom Cruise Attends Coldplay's Glastonbury Festival Set with Gillian Anderson and Simon Pegg. It was a star-studded affair at Coldplay's 2024 Glastonbury Festival set!
On 1 January 2025, Neil Young announced that he would not be performing at Glastonbury 2025 in a statement expressing his belief that the festival was "now under corporate control", referencing their partnership with the BBC.
The total cost of putting on the 2023 Glastonbury Festival was approximately £62 million, paid across 922 organisations providing services to the festival.
There will be no Glastonbury Festival in 2026 because the organizers are taking a planned "fallow year" to allow {Worthy Farm} to rest, regenerate the land, and let the dairy cows reclaim their pastures, a tradition held roughly every fifth year to prevent damage and give everyone involved a break. This gives the farmland a chance to recover from the massive event before it returns in 2027.
While some sources suggest that the biggest names in music like Coldplay, Beyonce and The Rolling Stones might receive around £200,000, this is still considerably less than the £1 million or more they could earn at other festivals.
While both are incredibly wealthy, Chris Martin is generally considered richer due to Coldplay's massive global tours and album sales, with recent estimates placing his net worth around $160-$170 million, whereas Gwyneth Paltrow's fortune, estimated around $200 million in older reports, comes from acting, her successful Goop brand, endorsements, and cookbooks, though exact figures vary and Martin's music income often outpaces her diversified streams.
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.
Shale died of a heart attack whilst using a portable toilet cubicle at the Glastonbury Festival. Prior to the discovery of his body, he had been reported missing for 18 hours.
The singer is following medical advice to cancel forthcoming performances after undergoing emergency surgery for severe compression of the sciatic nerve. The injury occurred during rehearsals for their world tour last Friday.
