Deep dive · Music festivals · Accounts to March 2025

Inside the accounts · How does Glastonbury really make its money?

Glastonbury paid more to related parties, £4.7m, than to its own 105 staff, £4.1m

Glastonbury Festival Events Limited runs the festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset. Its accounts for the year to 31 March 2025, which covers the June 2024 Festival, show £75.2m of turnover and £5.7m of profit after tax, all kept to see the festival through its next fallow year. They show how thin the margin is, how much comes from interest on ticket money, what went to charity, and the £4.7m paid to related parties the accounts don't name. Where a figure says something about how the festival is run, we explain it.

CompanyGlastonbury Festival Events Limited · 04348175

AccountsAccounts to March 2025 PDF ↗

ByJames Sproule · 28 September 2026

Reading time8 min read

£75.2mTurnover, up 10.0%

£5.7mProfit after tax, all kept: no dividend

£4.7mPaid to related parties, more than the £4.1m payroll

£2.7mGiven to charity, plus £1.5m paid to charities for services

In 60 words

The answer

Glastonbury makes its money from one festival a year: £75.2m of "sales from festival activities" in 2024/25, which the accounts don't split further. Staging it cost £68.9m, leaving an 8.4% operating margin. Interest on cash added £1.4m, 18% of pre-tax profit. It gave £2.7m to charity, paid £4.7m to unnamed related parties and kept all £5.7m of profit for the 2026 fallow year.

The rhythm of the business

One festival, one financial year

The financial year runs from April to March, so each set of accounts holds one June festival. This one holds the 2024 Festival; the year before held 2023. The company also runs "two much smaller events, Pilton Party and Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza" (p. 1). The next accounts hold June 2025, the fourth festival since COVID, and the year after that has none: "2026 is a planned fallow year so a significant cost is expected" (p. 1).

One festival in each financial year, April to MarchThe year to 31 March 2025 holds the June 2024 Festival. The next year holds June 2025; the one after, the 2026 fallow year.

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The Festival

June

Build and break

Ticket money held

Retention account

Next year's tickets

On sale for 2025

Strategic report, pp1–2 and p4. Ticket timing is background, not from the accounts.

Months ahead

Tickets paid up front

"All Festival tickets are paid for in advance", and "the majority of ticket monies are held in a retention account which is released after the festival has taken place" (p. 1).

£1.4m of interest on deposits

The build

A city on a farm

Crew build "a city on the site at Worthy Farm". In 2024 "challenging weather conditions in the build phase" meant extra vehicle movements (pp. 1 and 2).

£31.6m cost of sales

Five days in June

The gates open

Over 4,000 performances on more than 100 stages, nearly 900 traders, and crew, contractors, artists and volunteers of "roughly one for every two ticket holders" (pp. 2 and 3).

£75.2m turnover

After

Profits handed out and kept

"Each Festival year, profits are used to support the company's charity partners - Oxfam, Greenpeace and WaterAid" (p. 1). What's left is retained as "a float for the next year's Festival".

£2.7m donated, £5.7m kept

Background, not from the accountsThe 2024 Festival ran from 26 to 30 June 2024. Glastonbury tickets are sold in the autumn before, usually with a deposit and the balance paid in the spring. So at 31 March the company already holds money for the coming June, which is why the balance sheet carries large ticket-related balances on both sides.

The income statement

The festival on one page

The income statement is short. Turnover, cost of sales, administrative expenses and a little interest (p. 14). Almost everything the festival spends is in two lines, and the notes don't break either down.

From £75.2m of turnover to £5.7m of profit, 2024/25Other operating income of £32,000 is included in operating profit. Interest on cash deposits added £1.4m.

Totals
Costs and charges
Income and credits

Statement of comprehensive income, p14.

For every £100 of turnover, Glastonbury kept £7.58Per £100 of turnover. Costs took £91.67; interest on cash added £1.85 and tax took £2.63.

Cost of salesthe direct cost of staging the Festival£42.01

Admin expenseseverything else, not broken down£49.66

Taxcorporation tax at 25%£2.63

Back in: interest on deposits£1.85

Kept as profitadded to reserves; no dividend£7.58

Statement of comprehensive income, p14. Our split.

£6.3m

operating profit, up from £4.7m. Turnover rose £6.8m; cost of sales rose 15%, to £31.6m, and admin expenses 3%, to £37.3m (p. 14).

£7.7m

profit before tax, up 29%. Tax at 25% was £2.0m, leaving £5.7m, all added to reserves (pp. 14 and 25).

What this means for the festivalAn 8.4% margin on turnover is thin for a business whose tickets sell out. The report explains why it isn't higher: "The company also aims to keep ticket prices as low as possible, so that the Festival remains accessible, with demand for tickets far outweighing supply" (p. 1). The key performance indicators it names are its carbon footprint and "the continued support of worthy causes", not profit (p. 1).

Turnover and interest

Where the money comes from

One line of turnover. Note 3 analyses turnover "by class of business" and gives a single class: "Sales from festival activities", £75,197,277, up from £68,371,504 (p. 22). Tickets, traders, bars and anything else are in that one figure.

Interest on cash is the second income stream. "Interest on bank deposits" was £1,399,267 (p. 25), and the note lists interest as "other significant revenue" (p. 23). That is 18% of the £7.7m profit before tax.

The ticket money sits on deposit. The company "finances its operations through retained profits", with no borrowing, and aims to keep "sufficient liquid funds ... whilst maximising returns on the surplus funds" (p. 1).

£1.4m

of interest in a year when cash at the year end was £12.8m. That would take a rate above 10% on the year-end balance alone, so the money on deposit through the year must have been much higher: our arithmetic, not a figure in the accounts.

£10.0m

of "other debtors" at the year end, not explained in the note (p. 27). The strategic report says most ticket money is held in a retention account until after the festival (p. 1).

What this means for the festivalSelling tickets months before the gates open means Glastonbury has little credit risk and no need to borrow: "The company's credit risk is minimal as all Festival tickets are paid for in advance" (p. 1). It also means the money earns interest before it is spent. On these accounts, the interest was worth almost a quarter of operating profit.

Not disclosed. The accounts don't give the number of tickets sold, the ticket price, attendance, or separate figures for tickets, traders' pitch fees, bars, merchandise or broadcasting. They don't mention the BBC's coverage as a source of income, only that 20 million people in the UK watch it (p. 2). The £32,000 of "other operating income" isn't explained.

Costs and people

What it costs to stage

£68.9m of costs, in two lines. Cost of sales £31.6m and administrative expenses £37.3m (p. 14). The notes pick out only a few items: depreciation of £14,583, audit fees of £23,320 and £16,396 of other work by the auditor (p. 23).

A small payroll. The company employed an average of 105 people, 6 in administration and support and 99 in "other departments", up from 96. Staff costs were £4.07m, 5.4% of turnover (pp. 23 and 24).

The directors. Six directors were paid £331,507 in total including pensions, up from £245,380. The highest-paid received £71,931 plus a £1,595 pension contribution (p. 24).

The few costs the accounts do break out, 2024/25Together these are a small part of the £68.9m of costs. The rest isn't broken down.

Paid to related partiesmanagement, site, production and other costs£4.7m

Staff costs105 people on average£4.1m

Charitable donations'over £2.7million'£2.7m

Tax£2.0m

Payments to charities for servicesmainly volunteer stewards£1.5m

Directors' paysix directors, including pensions£0.3m

Notes 6, 7, 10 and 21, pp23–30; charity figures from the strategic report, p4.

Who the 105 employees areAverage employees in 2024/25; crew, contractors and volunteers on site are not employees. Each square is 1%.

Other departments: 99
Administration and support: 6

Note 6, p23.

What this means for the festivalThe festival isn't staged by its own employees. The crew, contractors, artists and volunteers on site are "roughly one for every two ticket holders" (p. 2), and most are paid, if at all, as suppliers rather than staff. So their cost sits inside cost of sales and admin, not the £4.07m of staff costs. The report says the festival has helped local crew "start up infrastructure, staging, production, and service provision companies" that now work for it (p. 3).

Not disclosed. There is no split of costs into site, production, security, stewarding, artists' fees, policing, power or waste. The accounts don't say what artists are paid, or what the headliners cost.

Good causes

What goes to charity

Over £4.3m to charities and good causes in 2024/25The report gives both targets, on different pages. Separately, £3.7m was donated in March 2024, just before this year began.

DonationsOxfam, Greenpeace, WaterAid and others£2.7m

Payments to charities for servicesmainly volunteer stewards£1.5m

Target for contributions'in excess of £3million' each Festival year£3.0m

Target for donations'exceeding £2million per year'£2.0m

Strategic report, pp1 and 4. Not in the notes to the accounts.

Over £4.3m in the year. "£2.7million were donations and £1.5million were payments to charities and local groups in return for services provided at the Festival, mainly volunteer stewards" (p. 4). The two add to £4.2m; each is given as an "over" figure.

Two targets. Page 1 gives "an aim of charitable donations exceeding £2million per year". Page 4 says the company "aims to support charitable organisations with contributions in excess of £3million" each festival year. It beat both.

A bigger gift just before the year. "In March 2024 just before the start of the financial year the Festival made donations of over £3.7million, including a £2million donation in support of NHS Somerset" (p. 4).

What this means for the festivalDonations of £2.7m are 3.6% of turnover and nearly half the year's profit after tax. The report ties them to the ticket price: the festival keeps prices low "whilst maintaining funds to future-proof the Festival ... and continue the charitable support which is at the centre of the Festival ethos" (p. 3). The report also lists local projects: 52 social houses on land gifted by the founder, a village hall, skate parks and a playing-fields pavilion (p. 4).

Not disclosed. The charity figures are only in the strategic report. The financial statements have no donations note, so they don't say which cost line the money is in, or how the £2.7m was split between Oxfam, Greenpeace, WaterAid and the "hundreds of other" causes (p. 4).

Reserves and land

Saving for the fallow year

Every penny kept. "No ordinary dividends were paid" (p. 6). Reserves grew from £5.5m in March 2023 to £9.9m and then £15.6m (p. 16). "Since 2009 the company has maintained a policy of retained profits in order to provide a float for the next year's Festival" (p. 1).

Rebuilding after COVID. Reserves were grown "prior to the last planned fallow year in 2018". The buffer "proved crucial" when the 2020 Festival was cancelled and 2021 couldn't go ahead; "The cash reserves were significantly depleted post COVID" and "It is imperative that the Festival builds up its cash reserves again" (p. 1).

First land on the books. The company had no fixed assets a year earlier. In 2024/25 it bought £3,506,768 of freehold land and buildings and a £600,000 investment property, "held to earn rentals" (pp. 18 and 26). After the year end it signed an operating lease worth £1,205,000 over 5.42 years (p. 29).

The float for fallow years: reserves nearly trebled in two yearsEvery penny of profit was kept. No dividends were paid.

Reserves (net assets)
Cash at the year end

Statement of changes in equity, p16; cash flow statement, p17.

What this means for the festivalA fallow year has costs but no festival to pay for them. "Worthy Farm is a working dairy farm and every five or six years the Festival takes a fallow year to allow the farmland to recover" (p. 4). The reserves also cover a cancellation, and fund land "to protect the future of the Festival" (p. 1). £4.1m went into property this year, so cash rose by only £1.2m, to £12.8m (p. 17).

Background, not from the accountsFallow years have usually come every five or six years. The company's net assets of £15.6m are about a fifth of one year's turnover. The 2026 fallow year will fall in the accounts to 31 March 2027.

Not disclosed. Where the land is, what it will be used for, who the investment property is let to, and what the post-year-end lease is for. The accounts don't say how much a fallow year is expected to cost.

Ownership

Who owns the festival company

£1

Two shares

One Ordinary A share of 50p, which votes but gets no dividends, and one Ordinary B share of 50p, which gets dividends and assets but no vote (p. 29).

100%

One owner

"The company is controlled by E R Eavis who owns 100% of the issued share capital" (p. 31). The auditor reports "to the member", singular (p. 11).

Nil

Dividends

None paid and none recommended (p. 6). The only money due from a director at the year end was a £2,260 loan account balance (p. 31).

What this means for the festivalSplitting the vote from the dividend right is a way of separating control from the right to profits. Here both shares are held by the same person, so the split has no effect today. With no dividends, the owner's return, if any, isn't visible in these accounts, beyond directors' pay of £331,507 in total for a board of six (pp. 6 and 24).

Not disclosed. The accounts don't say whether any director or shareholder is connected to the "other related parties" paid £4.5m, or who owns Worthy Farm.

In the directors' words

The risks they name

The main business risk continues to be the cancellation of the Festival due to forces outside the control of the company such as extremely bad weather or a global pandemic similar to COVID.
Principal risks, p. 1

2026 is a planned fallow year so a significant cost is expected. Maintaining cash balances allows the Festival to take a planned fallow year from a position of security.
Financial instruments, p. 1

The company's credit risk is minimal as all Festival tickets are paid for in advance.
Financial instruments, p. 1

In plain termsA festival that happens once a year, outdoors, on a farm, has one big risk: that it doesn't happen. Glastonbury's answer isn't borrowing or, as far as these accounts say, insurance. It is cash: profits kept year after year, and ticket money collected long before the gates open. The auditor found no material uncertainty about going concern (p. 11).

Not disclosed. The accounts don't mention insurance or cancellation cover, or say what would happen to ticket money if a festival were cancelled.

Two years side by side

Year on year

2024/25 against 2023/24Percentage change, one scale. Both years held a Festival.

Turnover£68.4m → £75.2m+10%

Cost of sales£27.5m → £31.6m+15%

Admin expenses£36.2m → £37.3m+3%

Interest received£1.2m → £1.4m+14%

Profit before tax£5.9m → £7.7m+29%

Staff costs£3.6m → £4.1m+13%

Average employees96 → 105+9%

Directors' pay£0.2m → £0.3m+36%

Paid to related parties£3.7m → £4.7m+29%

Cash at year end£11.6m → £12.8m+10%

Statement of comprehensive income p14, balance sheet p15, notes 6, 7 and 21, pp23–30.

Show the figures as a table

Measure	2024/25	2023/24
Turnover	£75.2m	£68.4m
Cost of sales	£31.6m	£27.5m
Administrative expenses	£37.3m	£36.2m
Operating profit	£6.3m	£4.7m
Interest received	£1.4m	£1.2m
Profit before tax	£7.7m	£5.9m
Profit after tax	£5.7m	£4.4m
Staff costs	£4.07m	£3.62m
Average employees	105	96
Directors' pay, including pensions	£331,507	£245,380
Highest-paid director, excluding pension	£71,931	£60,609
Paid to related parties	£4.7m	£3.7m
Charitable donations (strategic report)	over £2.7m	not given
Cash at year end	£12.8m	£11.6m
Net assets	£15.6m	£9.9m
Dividends	nil	nil

Both years held a Festival: June 2024 and June 2023. The report doesn't give a comparable donations figure for 2023/24; it mentions £3.7m donated in March 2024.

Quick answers

Questions about Glastonbury

How does Glastonbury really make its money?

How much does Glastonbury give to charity?

In the year to March 2025 the festival made contributions of over £4.3m to charities and good causes: £2.7m of donations and £1.5m of payments to charities and local groups for services at the festival, mainly volunteer stewards. Its charity partners are Oxfam, Greenpeace and WaterAid. Just before the year began, in March 2024, it donated over £3.7m, including £2m to NHS Somerset. These figures are in the strategic report, not the notes.

How much profit does Glastonbury make?

£7.7m before tax and £5.7m after tax in the year to March 2025, on turnover of £75.2m, which covers the June 2024 Festival. Operating profit was £6.3m, an 8.4% margin; £1.4m of interest on bank deposits made up the rest. No dividend was paid: the profit was kept as a float for the next festival and the 2026 fallow year.

Who owns Glastonbury Festival?

Glastonbury Festival Events Limited has two 50p shares: an A share that votes and a B share that receives any dividends. The accounts say the company is controlled by E R Eavis, who owns 100% of the issued share capital. No dividends were paid in 2023/24 or 2024/25.

What are Glastonbury's related-party payments?

Note 21 shows £4.7m payable to related parties in 2024/25: £1.5m of management fees, £1.5m for site maintenance and infrastructure, £1.6m of other costs and a £100,000 production fee, up from £3.7m. The parties aren't named, and most were reclassified from entities under common control to other related parties without explanation.

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