Glastonbury Festival: Emily Eavis responds to calls for ticket ballot system
Glastonbury Festival co-organiser Emily Eavis has responded to calls for a ticket ballot system, saying there has been “a discussion”.
Eavis was speaking to Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw on a special edition of their Sidetracked podcast when she was asked how she planned to tackle the increasing demand for tickets.
The final batch of tickets for this year’s festival sold out in 20 minutes in April. A limited amount of coach/ticket packages were snapped up in 18 minutes three days prior.
Eavis had revealed earlier that the event had seen its “highest percentage of ticket balances paid ever”. Following the initial sale last November, frustrated fans who’d missed out suggested that tickets should be sold via a ballot system for subsequent editions to make things fairer.
When asked whether she was “ever tempted to do a ballot”, Eavis told Sidetracked: “It’s been a discussion, actually. I think there are so many people on our database that are registered for tickets. And I think a lot of them don’t try as hard as [others].
“Half of them try really, really, really hard [to buy tickets] and half of them maybe try and then don’t – they’re not as bothered about coming. So I’m not saying… it’s hard to say the percentage exactly.
“And I think if we did a ballot, we’d end up with some people [getting tickets] who weren’t necessarily as bothered about coming.”
She added: “It’s really hard to say this year ’cause I know a lot of people didn’t get tickets, and they wanted them. But a lot of the time, people who really, really want them do get them through volunteering or through competitions.
“I know it’s hard, it is hard. It’s one of the worst sides to the job… there aren’t enough tickets for everybody.”
“It’s one of the worst sides to the job” @emilyeavis on whether the festival would ever consider doing a ticket ballot…
Sidetracked by Glastonbury: Emily Eavis | Listen now on BBC Sounds or watch on BBC iPlayer pic.twitter.com/CbOsyXsFKu
— BBC Sounds (@BBCSounds) June 10, 2024
Eavis went on to say that organisers “can’t do anything about it” and “definitely can’t do two weekends” back-to-back like Coachella does. “We just couldn’t – can you imagine?” she explained.
Check out a clip of the interview above.
Ballot systems have been used for selling tickets for Wimbledon for years and are gradually becoming more common for high-demand music events.
Elsewhere in her interview with Sidetracked, Eavis revealed that Glastonbury is likely to take a year off in 2026.
“We are due a fallow year,” she said. “The fallow year is important because it gives the land a rest, and it gives the cows a chance to stay out for longer and reclaim their land.”
She also spoke about her dream headliner, and said the festival had been “due to close” in the ’90s.
Glastonbury Festival 2024 takes place between June 26-30, with Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA due to headline the Pyramid Stage. Other confirmed acts include Shania Twain, LCD Soundsystem, Little Simz, The National, Avril Lavigne, The Last Dinner Party, Jungle, Justice, Bloc Party, Fontaines D.C., Yard Act, Arlo Parks and Gossip.
Last week, organisers revealed the full line-up, stage splits and timings for the sold-out bash – including some new names and various ‘TBA’ secret slots. The BBC has also shared its extensive coverage plans for the huge weekend of music.
Check out the new Glastonbury site map here – revealing some key changes for 2024 – and keep up to date with the latest weather forecast here.
In other news, the official Glastonbury 2024 app is now available to download.
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Tom Skinner
NME
