Glastonbury Festivals Events

What Glastonbury Festivals Events does

Glastonbury Festivals Events is a UK-based, family-owned music and performing arts festival operator founded in 1970 by Michael Eavis. The company operates the world's largest green-field festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, delivering a biennial multi-day event featuring the Pyramid Arena (75,000+ capacity), Theatre & Circus (1,500+ shows), and numerous supporting venues. The business is controlled by the Eavis family through two private limited companies (GFEL and GFL) and operates without external shareholders, taking a deliberate fallow year between festivals for land recovery.

The commercial model combines ticket sales (distributed via See Tickets), on-site food and beverage (bars, the Deluxe Diner), branded merchandise (via Sandbag Ltd), and hospitality packages. Strategic infrastructure partnerships underpin operations: Vodafone powers the festival mobile app, the BBC provides broadcast coverage, and a 30+ year Joint Charity partnership with Oxfam, WaterAid and Greenpeace deploys 2,500+ Oxfam stewards on site. The 2025 festival generated £4.2m in donations to 300+ charitable causes. Worthy Farm also functions as a working dairy farm, with Worthy Farm Reserve Cheddar produced in partnership with Wyke Farms and retailed through Co-op, providing a year-round revenue line that partially offsets the biennial festival cycle.

The company extends its brand beyond the main festival via the Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza, Pilton Party, Worthy FM, the Glastonbury Free Press and the Glastonbury Arts Commission, all of which support cultural engagement and brand stewardship in fallow years. The next festival is scheduled for 23-27 June 2027.

Name

Glastonbury Festivals Events

Legal name

Glastonbury Festivals Limited

Website

https://glastonburyfestivals.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1970

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Glastonbury Festivals Events is a family-owned UK operator of the world's largest green-field music and performing arts festival, held biennially at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, generating revenue from tickets, food and beverage, merchandise, hospitality and dairy retail.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Live Music and Performing Arts Festival

NAICS

Amusement and Theme Parks (713110), All Other Amusement and Recreation Industries (713990)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Concerts & Music Festivals (THAJAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Arts & Culture Community Festivals (Multidisciplinary Arts Weeks) (MPAGAEAG), Fairgrounds & Expo Parks (THAHAAAH), Festival, Fair & Event Mobile Concessions (THAFAHAI), Parks, Gardens & Botanical Attractions (THAJACAH)

Keywords

• Music festival events
• Performing arts festival
• Live entertainment events
• Festival ticketing services
• Event hospitality services

Headquarters

HQ city

Pilton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Festival tickets sold through See Tickets registration system with anti-touting measures
2. Food and Beverage: On-site bars and dining including Deluxe Diner, multiple food vendors across the site
3. Merchandise: Website shop run by Sandbag Ltd selling festival merchandise
4. Charitable Support: Support for charities and good causes reaching £4.2m in 2025 across 300+ organisations

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Glastonbury Festivals Events stages the world's largest green-field music and performing arts festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, along with sub-events (Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza, Pilton Party), on-site hospitality (bars, Deluxe Diner), festival merchandise through an online shop, the official mobile app, and an arts commissioning programme.

Product overview

Glastonbury Festivals Events operates a portfolio of music and performing arts events headlined by the world's largest green-field festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset. The offering includes the main Glastonbury Festival, smaller events (Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza, Pilton Party), a digital ecosystem (official website, mobile app developed with Vodafone, and online shop run by Sandbag Ltd), festival radio (Worthy FM), an on-site newspaper (Glastonbury Free Press), artisan food products (Worthy Farm Reserve Cheddar), and the Glastonbury Arts Commission initiative.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Glastonbury Festival The world's largest green-field music and performing arts festival held at Worthy Farm in Somerset, featuring multiple stages (Pyramid, Other Stage, West Holts, Woodsies), theatre, circus, comedy, and cultural experiences for general public attendees. Next festival scheduled 23-27 June 2027.
• Glastonbury Festival Mobile App Official festival mobile application for event information, schedules, maps, and location-based services, developed by Vodafone.
• Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza Annual music event held at Glastonbury Abbey, distinct from the main festival.
• Pilton Party Annual community event held in Pilton village near the festival site.
• Website Shop (Merchandise) Official online merchandise store operated by Sandbag Ltd offering festival merchandise and memorabilia.
• Deluxe Diner On-site Fine Dining On-site fine dining restaurant offering 2-course (£65pp) and 3-course (£80pp) menus, plus Sunday Roasts (£40).
• Festival Bars Multiple bars across site offering craft IPA, real ale, cider, spirits, cocktails, priced at London pub-equivalent levels.
• Worthy Farm Reserve Cheddar Artisan cheddar cheese produced from Worthy Farm milk, processed by Wyke Farms and sold in retail locations including Co-op stores across Britain.
• Worthy FM (Festival Radio) Festival radio station broadcasting throughout the event.
• Glastonbury Free Press On-site newspaper printed on a vintage 1957 Heidelberg press, published daily during the festival.
• Glastonbury Arts Commission

Quantifiable outcome

• £4.2m+ donated to 300+ charitable organisations in 2025
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered historic, core, major and minor.

• English HeritagehistoricStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2005Provided £400,000 grant for restoration of Pilton Tithe Barn in 2005. Festival contributed additional £100,000.
• OxfamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint Charity partner for over 30 years. Oxfam provides 2,500+ volunteer stewards who assist with stewarding and running Property Lock Ups. Festival donated over £2m to Oxfam, WaterAid and Greenpeace combined in 2025.
• WaterAidcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint Charity partner for over 30 years. WaterAid volunteers keep water flowing and toilets fresh on site, stock women's urinals with free period products, and maintain period-friendly stations.
• GreenpeacecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint Charity partner for over 30 years. Environmental activism and awareness raising at the festival on climate issues and fossil fuel accountability.
• See TicketscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOfficial nominated ticket agency managing festival registration and ticket sales. Operates registration database, sells tickets, administers newsletter mailing list.
• VodafonecoreTechnology or IntegrationDevelops and delivers the Glastonbury Mobile App with location-based push notifications and act favouriting functionality.
• BBCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial broadcast partner. BBC Television broadcasts live on multimedia throughout the Festival and shares footage with Festival archive. Content available via BBC on-demand service.
• The GuardianmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMedia partner receiving line-up information and performer data for publication across their platforms.
• Sandbag LtdmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRuns the festival website shop selling merchandise. Customer service available via helpdesk and telephone.
• Arts Council EnglandmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides funding to the Glastonbury Arts Commission. Receives deidentified applicant data for monitoring purposes.
• Heidelberg UKminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Glastonbury Free Press to offer apprenticeship opportunity focusing on printing machine engineering training. Celebrating 175 years globally and 50 years in UK.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Roskilde Festival: Large European non-profit music festival in Denmark with a long charitable-giving tradition comparable to Glastonbury's. Operates a similar multi-stage format, sustainability focus, and non-commercial ethos that mirrors Glastonbury's charitable mission and brand values.
• Lollapalooza: Multi-stage music festival with global editions (Chicago flagship plus international spin-offs). Like Glastonbury, it combines headliner music programming with art, sustainability initiatives, and partner ecosystems, and is positioned at the premium end of the destination-festival market.
• Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival: Operated by Goldenvoice/AEG, Coachella is a flagship annual green-field music and arts festival in California with global brand recognition comparable to Glastonbury. Both are multi-stage destination festivals combining headliner music with theatre, art installations, and on-site camping, and command premium ticket pricing and sponsor demand.
• Reading and Leeds Festivals: Twin-site UK music festivals run by Festival Republic/Live Nation that directly compete with Glastonbury for British festival attendees and headliner bookings. Both target a similar demographic of UK live-music consumers and share an annual UK summer-event positioning.
• Sziget Festival: Major Central European multi-stage music festival held on an island in Budapest. Comparable to Glastonbury in scale (hundreds of thousands of attendees), broad genre programming, and pan-European destination appeal.
• Primavera Sound: Spanish-headquartered multi-stage music festival with international editions (Barcelona, Madrid, São Paulo, etc.). Comparable to Glastonbury in curated headliner programming, broad genre coverage, and destination-festival positioning across Europe and Latin America.
• Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival: US four-day destination festival combining multi-stage music with art, comedy, and sustainability programming. Operates a comparable camping-based green-field model and similar headliner-driven revenue structure.
• Tomorrowland: Belgian electronic-music mega-festival operating on a multi-weekend, multi-stage format with global broadcast reach and a premium brand. Comparable to Glastonbury in scale, destination-festival economics, and international sponsor appeal.
• Burning Man: Annual arts and community gathering in the Nevada desert with a comparable blend of music, art installations, environmental ethos, and a values-driven community. Shares Glastonbury's emphasis on cultural experience beyond pure music and its strong social-impact identity.

Regional players

• Download Festival: UK rock/metal-focused festival operated by Live Nation. While narrower in genre than Glastonbury, it directly competes for UK festival attendees, headliner tours, and summer-weekend share-of-wallet, serving as a regional adjacent peer in the British live-events market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/glastonbury
• Facebookfacebook.com/glastonburyofficial
• Instagraminstagram.com/glastofest
• TikToktiktok.com/@glastonbury

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Glastonbury Festivals Events