Many music fans are criticising the 2027 festival price hike as “not fair” and "a scam". Would you pay around €480 for Glasto?
After a fallow year in 2026, the UK's Glastonbury Festival has confirmed that tickets for next year's edition will go on sale next month.
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Having previously argued that Worthy Farm's finest is overrated, a nightmare to get tickets for and ultimately has everything to envy some of mainland Europe's finest music festivals, here's another push factor that confirms our stance: ticket pricing.
Tickets for the 2027 edition, which will take place from 23 to 27 June, will cost £408 including a £5 booking fee per ticket.
That's approx. €480 in total – an increase of nearly £30 (€34) from 2025 and, according to reports from BBC News, part of a steady rise since 2010, when tickets cost £286 (€330).
Granted, this price hike pattern can be seen across the industry - and especially in post-Brexit UK. But Glasto was already the UK's most expensive music festival, and next year's prices are the highest they've ever been.
Fans aren't happy and understably so, considering the cost-of-living crisis, the fact that the 2027 edition's headliners have yet to be announced (even if rumours suggest The Rolling Stones, Fontaines D.C. and Stevie Wonder could be in mix), and that Glasto often resumes itself to: Booking difficulties + mud + awful facilities + bottlenecked stages + overinflated prices for food and drinks + vibes ruined by crowds which are far less friendly compared to certain European audiences.
Unpopular opinion for many, but complaints are mounting - with some calling the 2027 price tag "unreasonable", "insane" and "a scam", while many feel like they're being priced out.
One fan wrote: “The last time I went was 2009. It was £165. It felt affordable, worth every penny. With inflation, sure, it should be £300 now. I get it, it’s a charity event. But £400?? That doesn’t feel right or fair.”
Someone else shared: "In 2000 it was £87. That’s an extra £321 in 27 years. The money went up but the music went down. Even accounting for inflation, that should be about £160 today. You pay more money to listen to shit music. How is this fair?"
Another wrote: "Everything in the UK is getting more expensive & lower quality How are people accepting this? Nothing in this country makes sense anymore."
Check out more reactions below:
Some fans have defended the price hike, sharing how it is actually a “bargain” compared to current concert prices.
“It’s £80-£100 for a big venue gig now. I think £408 is fair for five days of massive acts,” one person wrote on X. Another agreed: “£400 for a glasto ticket still seems like a good deal if you look at my concert spend this year."
“£400 for the whole 5 days and the acts you can see and everything else that’s in the fields is an absolute bargain,” another added.
In 2023, Glasto head Emily Eavis acknowledged it was a "challenging time" for festival organisers. "We have tried very hard to minimise the increase in price on the ticket but we're facing enormous rises in the costs of running this vast show, whilst still recovering from the huge financial impact of two years without a festival because of Covid."
Fair points, but considering four-day passes to this year's Rock en Seine cost €235, Belgium’s Rock Werchter (arguably mainland Europe’s answer to Glastonbury) set music lovers back €315, and one of our favourite EU festivals, the Netherlands’ Best Kept Secret, only cost €299 (including campsite access), we know which tickets we’ll be looking to book next year.
