Battle · 4 companies
Festivals
Headliner, or second stage?
Festival Republic leads on 2 of the five measures that matter most: turnover, pre-tax profit, profit margin, growth and net assets. Festival Republic is the biggest by turnover at £83m, against £75m at Glastonbury. Glastonbury keeps the most of every £100 it takes, £10.21 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are up to 11 months apart, so this compares each company's most recent filing rather than the same twelve months. Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Manchester International Festival file group accounts that include subsidiaries; Festival Republic and Glastonbury file for a single company, which flatters the groups on size. Edinburgh Festival Fringe's profit looks like a one-off in the latest accounts (a gain inside a group, an acquisition or a longer accounting period), so it is shown but not counted when picking winners.
Accounts compared: Festival Republic to Dec 2024 · Glastonbury to Mar 2025 · Edinburgh Festival Fringe to Nov 2025 · Manchester International Festival to Mar 2025
The Numbers
| # | Company | Turnover | Change | Pre-tax profit | Margin | Employees | Pay per head | Turnover per head | Net assets | Bank and cash | Accounts to | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Festival RepublicFestival Republic Limited | £83m | +7.5% | £8m | 9.7% | 257 | £39,000 | £324,000 | £12m | £24m | Dec 2024 | Single company |
| 2 | GlastonburyGlastonbury Festival Events Limited | £75m | +10.0% | £8m | 10.2% | 105 | n/d | £716,000 | £16m | £13m | Mar 2025 | Single company |
| 3 | Manchester International FestivalManchester International Festival | £24m | -17.2% | -£1.5m | -6.3% | 240 | £40,000 | £101,000 | £13m | £5m | Mar 2025 | Group |
| 4 | Edinburgh Festival FringeEdinburgh Festival Fringe Society Limited | £13m | +54.7% | £5m | 41.1% | 56 | £45,000 | £229,000 | £7m | £3m | Nov 2025 | Group |
Ranked by turnover. Click any column to sort. The leader on each measure is highlighted. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
Biggest by turnover
Festival Republic
£83m
Most pre-tax profit
Festival Republic
£8m
Highest profit margin
Glastonbury
10.2%
Fastest-growing turnover
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
+54.7%
Biggest employer
Festival Republic
257 staff
Highest pay per head
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
£45,000
Most turnover per head
Glastonbury
£716,000
Largest net assets
Glastonbury
£16m
Most cash
Festival Republic
£24m
The Takeaway
- Glastonbury converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £10.21 reaches pre-tax profit, against a loss of £6.28 at Manchester International Festival.
- Festival Republic is the largest on the top line, £83m of turnover, 1.1x Glastonbury's £75m.
- Edinburgh Festival Fringe is growing fastest, turnover +54.7% on its own prior year. Manchester International Festival went backwards.
- Festival Republic is the biggest employer with 257 people; Edinburgh Festival Fringe pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £45,000.
- Glastonbury has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £16m, while Festival Republic holds the most cash at £24m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
Edinburgh Festival Fringe keeps the most: £41.06 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. Manchester International Festival does worst, losing £6.28.
Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is Festival Republic (£83m), Glastonbury (£75m), Manchester International Festival (£24m), Edinburgh Festival Fringe (£13m).
By headcount, Festival Republic leads with 257 employees.
The comparison holds with the dates stated plainly: Festival Republic to Dec 2024, Glastonbury to Mar 2025, Edinburgh Festival Fringe to Nov 2025, Manchester International Festival to Mar 2025. The bases differ: group accounts include the businesses a company owns, single-company accounts do not.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
Edinburgh Festival Fringe grew fastest, turnover +54.7% on its own prior year, ahead of Glastonbury (+10.0%), Festival Republic (+7.5%), Manchester International Festival (-17.2%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
Festival Republic employs the most, 257 people, against 240 at Manchester International Festival.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe has the highest average staff cost, about £45,000 a head; Festival Republic the lowest, about £39,000.
Glastonbury brings in the most turnover per employee, about £716,000, against £101,000 at Manchester International Festival. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
Festival Republic
257
employees, about £39,000 pay a head, £324,000 turnover a head, +20.1% on the year
Glastonbury
105
employees, £716,000 turnover a head, +9.4% on the year
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
56
employees, about £45,000 pay a head, £229,000 turnover a head, +9.8% on the year
Manchester International Festival
240
employees, about £40,000 pay a head, £101,000 turnover a head, -6.6% on the year
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
Held by Uk Festival Holdings Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control in the 75% to 100% band.
Who owns Festival Republic →
Glastonbury Festival Events Limited · 04348175Held by Ms Emily Rose Eavis
An individual recorded as a person with significant control in the 75% to 100% band.
Who owns Glastonbury →
Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society Limited · SC046605No controller recorded
The register shows no person with significant control. 1 outstanding charge on the register.
Who owns Edinburgh Festival Fringe →
Manchester International Festival · 05292793No controller recorded
The register shows no person with significant control.
Who owns Manchester International Festival →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | Festival Republic | Glastonbury | Edinburgh Festival Fringe | Manchester International Festival |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered name | FESTIVAL REPUBLIC LIMITED | GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL EVENTS LIMITED | EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE SOCIETY LIMITED | MANCHESTER INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL |
| Company number | 02948536 | 04348175 | SC046605 | 05292793 |
| Incorporated | 1994 | 2002 | 1969 | 2004 |
| Accounts filed | 24 September 2025 | 23 December 2025 | 1 September 2026 | 14 January 2026 |
| Turnover, prior year | £78m | £68m | £8m | £29m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | £7m | £6m | £0.8m | -£1.7m |
| Staff costs | £10m | n/d | £3m | £10m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 12.0% | n/d | 19.5% | 39.6% |
| Employees, prior year | 214 | 96 | 51 | 257 |
| Dividends paid | n/d | n/d | n/d | n/d |
| Charges outstanding | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
Festivals: common questions
Who is the biggest of Festival Republic, Glastonbury, Edinburgh Festival Fringe or Manchester International Festival?
Festival Republic, with turnover of £83m in the year to December 2024.
Which makes the most profit?
Festival Republic: £8m pre-tax in the year to December 2024.
Which employs the most people?
Festival Republic, with 257 employees in its latest accounts.
Festival Republic or Glastonbury: which is bigger?
Festival Republic, with turnover of £83m against £75m at Glastonbury on their latest filings. On margin, Glastonbury keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
Festival Republic or Edinburgh Festival Fringe: which is bigger?
Festival Republic, with turnover of £83m against £13m at Edinburgh Festival Fringe on their latest filings. On margin, Edinburgh Festival Fringe keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Festival Republic or Manchester International Festival: which is bigger?
Festival Republic, with turnover of £83m against £24m at Manchester International Festival on their latest filings. On margin, Festival Republic keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Glastonbury or Edinburgh Festival Fringe: which is bigger?
Glastonbury, with turnover of £75m against £13m at Edinburgh Festival Fringe on their latest filings. On margin, Edinburgh Festival Fringe keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Glastonbury or Manchester International Festival: which is bigger?
Glastonbury, with turnover of £75m against £24m at Manchester International Festival on their latest filings. On margin, Glastonbury keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe or Manchester International Festival: which is bigger?
Manchester International Festival, with turnover of £24m against £13m at Edinburgh Festival Fringe on their latest filings. On margin, Edinburgh Festival Fringe keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.
Deep dive: what story does Glastonbury's money tell? →
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