Glastonbury festival keeps getting bigger (Picture: Anna Barclay/Getty Images)
It’s nearly time for Glastonbury Festival 2024 and as usual, tickets sold out in under an hour – but how many people are actually going?
Glastonbury’s capacity is so big that it becomes the seventh biggest UK city for that shining weekend in June as thousands flock to Worthy Farm.
Somerset will be inundated with festival-goers in the next few days as Dua Lipa, Coldplay, Sza, and legend Shania Twain take to the stage.
Of course, it’s not just the line-up which encourages fans to brave the UK’s unpredictable weather – there’s something magic about Glastonbury.
For those who didn’t manage to get tickets, the event is broadcast annually with the BBC expanding some headliner coverage to their US site this year too.
It’s mindboggling how huge Glasto has become in the 54 years since it began so how many people are attending in 2024 and what’s the highest-ever turnout for Glastonbury?
Here’s all you need to know.
The Pyramid Stage draws huge crowds for headliners like Elton John (Picture: Jim Dyson/Redferns)
How many people are at Glastonbury this year?
The official number of people allowed at Glastonbury is 210,000 after organisers increased capacity by 7,000 in 2022.
This number includes performers, stage crew, celebrities, fans, hospitality staff, medical staff, and so many more.
In the infamous Glastonbury ticket sales, a whopping 138,000 tickets are up for grabs which usually go within the hour.
Additionally, 5,000 tickets are available to local people for Sunday, allowing Somerset natives a chance to go too.
This leaves 67,000 spaces for staff, everyone from litter-pickers to headline acts.
Dua Lipa is set to headline on Friday this year (Picture: Ian Gavan/Getty Images)
Around 210,000 people are likely to attend for 2024 (Picture: Oli SCARFF / AFP)
This aerial view shows the sheer extent of the Glastonbury Festival site (Picture: Mick Hutson/Redferns)
The festival started back in 1970 – and when it first began, tickets were just £1 each, and only a few thousand people were able to see the headliners.
By 1985, the event outgrew Worthy Farm, and the adjacent Cockmill Farm was purchased in order to allow for the festival’s expansion.
Last year saw the site officially at its capacity, although who knows how many people snuck in without a ticket…
What year had the highest turnout?
Gatecrashers can make real numbers a little murky but rumour has it the biggest attendance was for The Levellers’ Pyramid Stage set in 1994.
Legend has it that over 300,000 people attended that gig, however, Glasto’s website states a far more reasonable 80,000.
This throwback snap to 2004 shows the huge masses gathered around the Pyramid Stage (Picture: SWNS/Avalon/Getty Images)
According to estimates, there were enough fence-jumpers to double the festival’s size.
1999 and 2000 also saw huge waves of uninvited guests, with an additional 100,000 people said to have gatecrashed the site, increasing the attendance to an estimated 250,000 people total.
This led to public safety concerns and the local District Council refused any further licences until 2002.
Kylie Minogue was meant to play in 2005 for 153,000 people (Picture: Samir Hussein/WireImage)
It’s actually 2005 that holds the title of largest number of legitimate tickets sold with a whopping 153,000 tickets up for grabs.
That year saw The White Stripes and Coldplay headlining, the latter for the second time – they’re now up to five.
Icon Kylie Minogue was also set to perform but unfortunately had to drop out after her breast cancer diagnosis, though she made a triumphant return on the Legends Slot in 2019.
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