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Glastonbury Festival has confirmed that tickets for its 2027 return will go on sale in October, with prices breaking the £400 mark for the first time. A weekend ticket will cost £408, including a £5 booking fee, up from £378.50 in 2025 — a rise of £29.50. The increase comes after the festival's fallow year in 2026, and confirms its position as the most expensive of Britain's major music festivals. The event will run from 23 to 27 June 2027 on Michael Eavis's farm in Pilton, Somerset.

Sales will follow the festival's now-familiar staggered format. Tickets bundled with coach travel, intended to encourage more sustainable journeys to the site, go on sale first, at 18:00 BST on Thursday 1 October. General admission tickets follow at 09:00 BST on Sunday 4 October, when fans typically face a frantic scramble to secure a place before the allocation, which usually sells out within the hour, runs out. As in previous years, anyone hoping to buy a ticket must pre-register with the festival, a measure introduced to curb touting; buyers need a valid registration number and must join an automated online queue before sales begin. Payment can be made in full or via a £100 deposit, with the balance due in early April, and children under 13 attend free.

No headliners have yet been confirmed, though speculation is already rife. Harry Styles is widely tipped to top the bill, with Taylor Swift, Fontaines DC, Sabrina Carpenter, Fred Again and Stevie Wonder among the other names circulating among bookmakers and fans. Organiser Emily Eavis has ruled out one persistent rumour, confirming that Madonna will not be appearing despite the singer's recent hints about a UK performance in 2027, while saying three headliners had been booked and preparations were coming together well. The 2025 festival, the last before the break, was headlined by the 1975, Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo, and also featured surprise appearances from Pulp, Skepta and Haim alongside acclaimed sets from Doechii and Alanis Morissette — though it was also marked by controversy over performances by Kneecap and Bob Vylan, the latter having led a chant against the Israeli military that prompted a BBC apology and internal review.

The higher price fits a broader trend of festival tickets rising faster than inflation across the UK. Glastonbury's own ticket cost has climbed by roughly £85, or about 30 per cent in real terms, over the past decade, a smaller proportional jump than Parklife's 71 per cent rise but considerably steeper than the increase seen at Reading and Leeds, whose organisers held prices at 2025 levels for this year's event. Industry figures point to rising energy and infrastructure costs, along with post-Brexit labour shortages, as key drivers. Glastonbury declined to comment further on the new pricing, though Emily Eavis has previously said the festival tries hard to limit increases while absorbing steep rises in running costs, particularly after the financial strain of the pandemic-enforced cancellations. The announcement also comes shortly after Michael Eavis, who founded the festival in 1970, turned 90, having reflected on the decades-long battles with local authorities that shaped the event into what is now widely regarded as the world's leading music festival.

Where outlets differ

The BBC report frames the story partly around wider industry pricing trends, citing its own analysis comparing Glastonbury's decade-long price rises to those at Parklife and Reading and Leeds, and quotes Emily Eavis's 2023 remarks on cost pressures.

The Guardian report gives more space to the human and editorial angle: Michael Eavis turning 90 and reflecting on the festival's history, a direct quote from Emily Eavis ruling out Madonna and confirming three headliners, and more detail on 2025's acclaimed sets and the Kneecap/Bob Vylan controversy, including reference to its own five-star review of Olivia Rodrigo's set.

Minor factual framing differs: the BBC piece describes ticket price as 'an increase of £29.50 from 2025' without quoting the prior year's exact figure as prominently, while the Guardian leads with the £378.50 (2025) to £408 (2027) comparison.

The BBC notes the registration deadline context and queuing system in more procedural detail, while the Guardian specifies the registration deadline date (5pm BST, 25 September) and payment/deposit terms, including that under-13s go free.

• www.bbc.co.uk
• www.theguardian.com