How much does it actually cost to feed, water and beer yourself at the UK’s biggest festival?
Anyone who’s been to Glastonbury knows that it can be an expensive business. The cost of the ticket is, in my view, excellent value for the quality and quantity of entertainment – but there’s no denying it’s still a hefty sum. Then there’s the travel costs and the bits-and-pieces costs (camping equipment, battery pack, sequined leotards, etc). A recent article in the Times admitted that the writer had spent £1,500 before she’d even arrived on new outfits and beauty treatments – much of the festival, after all, will end up on Instagram.
Last year I meticulously tracked my spending while I was at the festival to see just how much it really costs to do the most important thing: feed and water yourself while you’re here. The total came in at £184.75 over the Friday, Saturday and Sunday – I’ve been doing the same this year to see how it compares.
Thursday
5.39pm: First day excitement is upon us. No longer needing to carry my massive rucksack, I’m feeling light and free – and with all the live music still to come, no pressure to rush to a stage. Have a much-needed post-entry sit down in the interstage area and buy a round of beers for me and two colleagues. Naturally I’m in such a good mood I knock one over. £20.85
6.55pm: I told you it was first day excitement. The pint has slipped down a treat and it’s time for another round. Another arrives at the table bought by my compatriot – thank you very much. £0
8.20pm: We head out into the main festival for some dinner and a reccy of Silver Hayes. Grab a quick vegan chicken burger and chips for carby sustenance – £14.50. Bit of a reality check – it really is going to be a £15-a-pop kind of weekend – but it’s delicious! Eat it sitting on the dusty ground and head for Levels to start the party.
9.15pm: It’s busy – but after manouevring through what a friend referred to as the “outer crust” of the crowd, we’ve got a decent spot for a DJ set from the Australian house act Confidence Man (who are playing with the Dutch DJ Job Jobse). It’s raining, it’s fun, so time for the already warm tinny in my pocket – this came from a 10-pack for £12. £1.20
12.32am: I’ve found more pals and have ended up in Assembly, escaping the increasingly heavy rain, watching the Chilean DJ Paula Tape B2B with London outfit Make A Dance. I’ve got one more can in my pocket – would be rude not to. £1.20
Total for the day: £37.75
Friday
11am: In the two and a half hours since I woke up, feeling like a packet of boil-in-the-bag rice, I have managed to meet virtually none of my core needs – namely, food and coffee. But now it’s time to dash to Woodsies for the 11.30 “TBA” set widely rumoured to be Lorde. I trust that she will carry me through my caffeine withdrawal and head over in the already blazing heat.
12.47pm: Lorde was amazing, the perfect start to the festival – but now I really have got a headache. It’s very, very warm. Luckily I manage to meet a friend who is at the front of the cheese toastie queue, so she orders me one while I queue for coffee. It’s all coming together. No, wait – this iced coffee is £6, and I make the bizarre hungover decision of ordering a can of Sprite at the same time, which turns out to be £3 and insufficiently cold. £9 altogether! Deary me. Still, I’m promptly handed a toastie, extra crispy, which cheers me up as we head over to the Pyramid stage for CMAT. What a rollercoaster.
2.03pm: Have found a spot up the hill to sit in the sun, trying not to melt. CMAT is brilliant – camp, funny and smart country-pop – and one of my friends returns from her toilet trip with a round of pints. Woohoo! £0. Unfortunately mine tastes like dishwater so it is duly poured into the ground, and I share a friend’s. Still £0.
3.26pm: Have I mentioned it’s hot? The sun is absolutely relentless – after an abortive quest to find shade somewhere near Wet Leg, who are about to start on the Other stage, finally give up and get another drink instead. Pint of cider plus a vodka Diet Coke for my friend, paying her back for the toastie. A real steal for these two at just £18.25!
5.06pm: Have had a wander in the leafier parts of the festival in an effort to find shade. Resisted getting our palms read in the Healing Fields and ended up at West Holts, where, being a meal down for the day, I find myself peckish: share a plate of veggie nachos for £11. Shortly afterwards head back to the tent to roll around on the floor in an eye mask and listen to the Elis & John podcast: just call me a 365 partygirl.
7.29pm: I’ve rallied, and I’m back at Woodsies to see the Gen Z icon Pinkpantheress. Try to queue for the bar but it’s so busy, I ultimately give up after what feels like about 35 torturous minutes. Check the time and realise it’s only been seven minutes; wonder if I need to work on my patience. At 7.39pm, once she’s started, I cut my losses and have one of my tinnies. £1.20
9.33pm: On a high from the stunningly good Pinkpantheress set, I link with a friend at Other for Busta Rhymes, who gives the crowd what they want by playing the likes of “Don’t Cha”. Then we head over to the Pyramid to find a spot for The 1975 and get some dinner on the way. Like anywhere, Glastonbury has more “touristy” food spots in these crowded thoroughfare areas that are more of a rip-off – my £13.50 halloumi wrap is dry and doesn’t have enough salad and seems very steep.
9.53pm: Stop in at Mandela Bar to load up on drinks for The 1975. One pint of pilsner and a vodka Diet Coke, £19.85, are you joking?!
11.02pm: Having a lot of fun in The 1975 – Matty Healy’s smoking in a car onstage, and it’s silly and fun and confusing. Tinny please! £1.20. Afterwards, head off to Arcadia and then the South East Corner, and manage to hang onto my precious pennies.
Total for the day: £74
Saturday
10.30am: Having got to bed at a highly respectable 4am (at Glastonbury, this is considered early), I feel a bit like I might be dead and delve into my chaotic rucksack for a mini orange juice, 41p from a multipack, and the kind of chocolate chip brioche that has been keeping me fuelled at festivals since I was 15 (28p from a multipack). 69p breakfast, feeling very virtuous.
11.27am: Make it back to the interstage area and get in a mercifully quick queue for an iced coffee. It’s still approximately as hot as the surface of the sun. £4.50, bargain.
12.54pm: Despite my restrained morning I’m feeling like I should rein it in a bit, having been tapping my card left right and centre yesterday, so resist the urge to get a cold pint. I’m at West Holts waiting for Nilufer Yanya – she’s great, but the sun is beating down and after 15 minutes I decide I need to be in the shade. Head up to the Park.
1.48pm: I’m now hungry enough to confront the huge queues everywhere. Opt for a veggie mezze plate in an effort to consume some of the essential nutrients that are sadly lacking from melted cheese and Stella Artois – after queuing for 15 minutes, still in the sun, I go for the biggest one where you get a bit of everything. £14.50
2.15pm: I take my enormous plate of hummus into Stonebridge Bar where a friend is watching Giles Peterson and has bought me a pint. Good stuff. After wolfing it down at the back I have to negotiate the one-way entry and exit system to retrace my steps and put the plate in the bin. It’s a setback, for sure. Nothing at Glastonbury is easy. But I manage, gratefully accept my pint, £0, shed a layer of clothing and enjoy the immaculate vibes of Giles.
5.55pm: Time for the worst-kept secret of the festival: “Patchwork”. AKA Pulp. After a testy moment at the interstage bar when it transpired the frozen margaritas were not yet frozen enough, we have held out for 10 minutes and they let us have them. Slushy, cold, sweet, tequila-y. £10. Drink it during Pulp, who have packed out the whole Pyramid area, and they are transcendently good. They finish with “Common People” – of course – and the Red Arrows fly over! It’s emotional! It’s a moment! Life is amazing, actually!
7.49pm: Have sprinted across the site to get to The Park for another “secret” set: Haim, who first played at the festival on this stage in 2013. Despite their mics being very quiet at the beginning, they are extremely good – I’ve never seen them before and they don’t disappoint. It’s charisma and bangers galore. They say it’s their favourite show they’ve ever played, and although they probably say that to all the girls, it works on me. Feel emotional, again. Celebratory tinny to toast a vintage couple of hours at Glastonbury, £1.20.
1.08am: It’s been a busy few hours. Rushed from Haim over to the Other stage for Skepta, who replaced Deftones at the last minute – he is spectacular. If anyone could “Shutdown” the festival with hours’ notice, it’s him. Scream along, alongside a bunch of lads in the crowd who know every single word. Then hold the fort for Charli XCX, who has drawn an enormous crowd, and afterwards head back to the press area to file my review.
It’s only at this point that I realise I haven’t eaten anything since Giles Peterson, and have taken 40,000 steps today. Find a fish and chip van and order what I think will be an easy snack that does not cost £10: chips, cheese and gravy. It is £10. I eat half of it and feel a bit sick, before failing to find any of my friends and calling it a night. Worry briefly about being a loser – but all roads lead to bed.
Total for the day: £40.89
Sunday
11.58am: Thank god for the clouds! Managed to stay asleep until 10am thanks to the lack of sunlight beaming directly into the tent. Feel physically refreshed after my early night but the fact I have essentially sat still staring at the floor since I got out of the shower an hour ago tells me I am, in fact, dead inside. Delve back into the rucksack of doom for restorative OJ and brioche, 69p, you really can’t argue with it.
12.55pm: Head to the press tent to do some bloody work for a change, and get a flat white on the way. £4.50. Start to feel human again.
3.25pm: I’m ready to emerge into the world, and grab a toastie before Rod Stewart on the Pyramid – £11, which at this point in the weekend feels reasonable but when you think about it is quite a lot. I belatedly decide to join the long queue for a Bloody Mary, which costs more than the toastie at £12 but for which I would pay pretty much any amount of money. Disaster strikes when I get to the front – no tomato juice! – so I fall back on a cold pint, which does the job at £6.95. Total for lunch, devoured at the back of the Pyramid stage and a classic Glastonbury scene, £17.95.
5.28pm: I’m back at the press tent and it’s time for me to file my piece. I haven’t yet visited my favourite food stall, Taste Tibet, so I plan to go there tonight – £20, but I’m prepared. It’s the last night, so I expect I’ll buy two more drinks – £13.90. Maybe a couple of cans into the night – £2.40. Estimated total £36.30
Total for the day: £53.44
Total spend at festival: £212.08
Ticket and booking fee: £378.50
Petrol from London and back: approx. £40
Grand total: £630.58
