What Cheltenham Festivals does

Cheltenham Festivals is a registered charity in England and Wales (charity number 251765) that has operated continuously since 1945, delivering four annual world-class festivals in Jazz, Science, Music and Literature held across venues in Cheltenham, including Pittville Pump Room and Cheltenham Town Hall. Beyond the four flagship festivals, the charity runs year-round educational, community and talent development projects, notably Festivals for Schools, The Big Read community reading initiative, the Composer Academy for emerging composers, and immersive experiences such as Mixtape (in 2026 collaborating with the Squidsoup arts collective). Sponsorship is anchored by The Times and Sunday Times as title partner of the Literature Festival.

The charity's core technology is its website (cheltenhamfestivals.org) and a telephone box office at (01242) 850270; no proprietary software, app, API, or AI capabilities are disclosed. Distribution is direct-to-consumer through these digital and phone channels plus the physical venues themselves, with marketing across owned social channels (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube), email newsletters, and earned press.

Revenue is generated through two main streams: ticket sales for individual festival events, with tiered pricing typically ranging from £5 to £32 depending on event and seating category (e.g., £30/£24/£18 for Jess Gillam Trio, £32/£26/£18 for Angela Hewitt, £18 single-tier for several chamber events), and voluntary donations (a £10 donation is cited as the cost of a sensory pack for accessibility). Customer segments consist primarily of general festival-goers seeking cultural enrichment, with secondary engagement from schools participating in educational programming. The organisation is privately held as a nonprofit with no parent company, no subsidiaries, no funding rounds, and no disclosed financial figures.

Name

Cheltenham Festivals

Legal name

Cheltenham Festivals

Website

https://cheltenhamfestivals.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1945

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cheltenham Festivals is a UK registered charity operating four annual world-class festivals in Jazz, Science, Music and Literature from Cheltenham, England, complemented by year-round educational, community and talent development projects funded by ticket sales and donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Cheltenham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Revenue generated from ticket sales for festival events across Music, Jazz, Science, and Literature festivals. Event tickets are sold at various price points ranging from £5 to £32 per event.
2. Donations: Charitable donations from supporters, with specific mention of £10 donations covering sensory packs for accessibility.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Cheltenham Festivals produces and sells tickets to four annual world-class festivals covering Jazz, Science, Music, and Literature, held at physical venues in Cheltenham, UK. The charity also delivers year-round educational outreach (Festivals for Schools), talent development programmes (Composer Academy), and immersive experiences (Mixtape), funded through ticket sales, donations, and sponsorship.

Product overview

Cheltenham Festivals is a registered charity (No. 251765) operating four annual world-class festivals: Jazz, Science, Music, and Literature. The organisation functions as a single unified cultural programme supported by educational projects like Festivals for Schools and talent development initiatives such as Composer Academy. The core offering consists of live event programming across all four festivals, complemented by ticketing services, community initiatives including The Big Read, and immersive experiences like Mixtape. All festivals operate under the Cheltenham Festivals umbrella brand with The Times and Sunday Times as a named sponsor for the Literature Festival.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cheltenham Music Festival: Annual classical and contemporary music festival featuring world-class musicians and performances
• Cheltenham Literature Festival
• Cheltenham Jazz Festival
• Cheltenham Science Festival

Products and services

• Cheltenham Jazz Festival Annual jazz festival featuring performances by internationally renowned and emerging jazz musicians, held in Cheltenham as part of the Cheltenham Festivals charitable programme.
• Cheltenham Science Festival Annual science festival featuring talks, demonstrations, and interactive events exploring scientific discoveries and innovations, held in Cheltenham as part of the Cheltenham Festivals charitable programme.
• Cheltenham Music Festival Annual music festival featuring classical and contemporary music performances, composer showcases, and live concerts by world-class musicians at venues including Pittville Pump Room and Cheltenham Town Hall.
• The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival Annual literature festival featuring author talks, book launches, readings, and literary discussions, including initiatives like The Big Read community reading programme.
• Festivals for Schools Educational outreach projects bringing festival experiences to schools, including science-focused programmes for students.
• Composer Academy Talent development programme supporting emerging composers through mentorship, workshops, and performance opportunities for new works.
• Mixtape Immersive music experience combining live performances with visual arts elements, featuring collaborations with arts collectives such as Squidsoup.
• Event Ticketing and Booking Online platform for browsing festival events and purchasing tickets, including tiered pricing and accessibility provisions such as sensory packs.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Southbank Centre: London's largest arts centre, running year-round programming across music, literature, and spoken word. Comparable to Cheltenham Festivals' multi-discipline cultural programming and educational outreach, though at much larger scale and London-centric.
• Glyndebourne Festival Opera: An internationally renowned annual opera festival in East Sussex, comparable to Cheltenham Music Festival in delivering world-class classical performances to UK audiences, though more specialised in opera and operating from a single dedicated venue.
• BBC Proms: The UK's premier classical music summer festival, run by the BBC. Comparable to Cheltenham Music Festival in audience and repertoire, but operates as part of a much larger public-service broadcaster portfolio rather than as a standalone regional charity.

Direct peers

• Hay Festival: A registered charity running annual literature and arts festivals in Hay-on-Wye and globally, with deep educational outreach programmes. Directly comparable to Cheltenham's Literature Festival and to the charity's year-round community engagement model.
• Bath Festivals: A UK charity operating multiple annual festivals including literature and music events in Bath. Closely comparable to Cheltenham Festivals in charitable structure, multi-festival portfolio, regional UK location, and audience profile.
• Edinburgh Festival Fringe: The world's largest arts festival, running annually in Edinburgh across multiple disciplines (theatre, comedy, music, dance). Directly comparable to Cheltenham Festivals as a multi-discipline UK cultural festival operating on an annual ticketed event model with year-round charitable activity.
• Edinburgh International Book Festival: An annual literature festival held in Edinburgh featuring author talks, readings, and children's programming. Directly comparable to Cheltenham Literature Festival in format, audience, and charitable educational mission.
• Aldeburgh Festival / Snape Maltings: Annual classical and contemporary music festival in Suffolk with associated talent development programmes. Directly comparable to Cheltenham Music Festival in programming focus, ticketed live performance model, and emerging-composer development initiatives like Composer Academy.

Emerging players

• Latitude Festival: A multi-arts summer festival in Suffolk featuring music, literature, poetry, and comedy. Comparable in multi-discipline mix to Cheltenham Festivals but commercially operated and skewed toward younger festival audiences rather than a charitable educational mission.

Regional players

• Brighton Festival: An annual multi-arts festival in Brighton featuring music, literature, theatre, and outdoor events. Comparable to Cheltenham Festivals in annual multi-discipline format and audience-facing cultural programming, though it operates in a different UK region.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/cheltenhamfestivals
• Facebookfacebook.com/cheltenhamfestivals
• Instagraminstagram.com/cheltfestivals
• TikToktiktok.com/@cheltfestivals
• Xx.com/cheltfestivals

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Cheltenham Festivals