Count down to Glastonbury with all the numbers you need to know
[June 26, 2025]
By LOUISE DIXON
LONDON (AP) — This week, thousands of music lovers from across the U.K.
and beyond will flock to a farm in the southwest of England for the
legendary Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts. But just
how many?
Find out in this guide to Glastonbury — and all of its quirks — by the
numbers.
210,000: Full capacity of the festival
The festival’s current license allows up to 210,000 people on-site,
including fans, staff and performers — but, this year, a few thousand
fewer tickets have been sold, to avoid overcrowding.
The closest village of Pilton has a population of around 1,000 people.
During the festival, though, the area becomes the seventh-largest
largest city in the U.K. (more than double that of nearby Bath, which
has a population of around 94,000).
1,200,000: Pints of beer stocked across more than 100 bars
Brooklyn Brewery's pilsner has been the official beer of Glastonbury
since 2023, keeping festivalgoers well lubricated. This year, they are
preparing more than 1.2 million pints of lager for a hot and thirsty
crowd. That's equivalent to two standard-size swimming pools.
And that’s despite Glastonbury’s B.Y.O. standing, unique at British
music festivals where bringing alcohol in from the outside is usually
prohibited. At Glastonbury, if you can carry it, you can drink it, and
it’s not uncommon to see wheelbarrows and small trailers being pulled
into campsites with a weekend’s worth of supplies of food and drink.
120,000: Largest-ever crowd for one set
The headliners on the iconic Pyramid Stage traditionally attract the
biggest crowds, and Elton John’s 2023 farewell gig attracted more than
120,000 fans as he closed the festival. Paul McCartney pulled in more
than 100,000 festivalgoers for his headlining Saturday night set in
2022.
4,000: Number of toilets
As well as standard portable toilets, the more than 4,000 toilets
include the infamous “long drops” — lockable, open-air toilets set up on
high with a huge concrete gutter around 10 feet (3 meters) below
(looking down not recommended) and “compost loos,” with a bin of sawdust
located outside to scoop and scatter over your business. There are also
both men's and women’s urinals for a speedy pee!
By contrast, there are scarce few public showers. Organizers instead
recommend a “good ol’ fashioned stripwash and making do.”
3,972: Performers across 120 stages this year
This year’s headliners are English indie rockers The 1975 on Friday,
Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young on Saturday and American
pop star Olivia Rodrigo closing on Sunday. But if that’s not your thing,
there are 3,969 other acts to choose from.
35: Minutes it took for 2025 tickets to sell out
Tickets for this year went on sale in November 2024, more than 6 months
before a single performer was announced, yet the general admission
tickets sold out in 35 minutes. The resale round in April saw remaining
tickets sell out in just 20 minutes.
1970: Glastonbury's birth year
This does not mean this week is the 55th edition though, as
traditionally the festival takes a fallow year roughly every five years
to allow the farmland to recover. The last official fallow year was
2018, but the festival's 50th anniversary in 2020 and the following
year's edition were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
If you're considering making Glasto plans for next year, don't bother:
2026 is a fallow year.
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Festivalgoers sit outside a bar during the Glastonbury Festival in
Worthy Farm, Somerset, England, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (Scott A
Garfitt/Invision/AP)
 1,000: Acres constituting the
festival's site
This is equivalent to 500 soccer pitches or approximately 733
standard American football fields. That makes it the world's largest
greenfield music and arts event.
1,000: Cows living on the farmland
The rest of the year, that is — the humans and the cows don't
cohabitate during the festival. Worthy Farm, where the festival is
held, is a working farm with 500 milking cows and 500 young stock.
During the festival, organizer Michael Eavis sends the dairy cows
for a short stay at the Glastonbury “Moo-tel,” a large shed based
away from the action, while the rest go off to graze further afield.
400: Food stalls
The more than 400 stalls go well beyond the traditional festival
burger, offering just about every type of global cuisine you can
imagine. Plus the Brits love a “meal deal” (a combo of a main meal
and a drink or side dish) and Glastonbury is no exception with
6-pound (roughly $8) meal deals offered across the site to keep
things affordable.
30: Arrests made in 2024
Twenty-one of these were for drug-related offenses, but the festival
retains a low crime rate overall.
8: Kilometers around the perimeter fence
A “Super Fortress Fence” was installed in 2002. Before this, there
were tens of thousands of gate-crashers every year. Some jumped the
fence, while others tunneled under, “Great Escape” style. Eavis
installed the impenetrable fence after he was fined in 2000 for
breaching licensing conditions.
5: Days the festival site is open for business
Ticket holders can get access starting 8 a.m. Wednesday to pitch
their tents and bag the best spots. While there is entertainment and
music over the first few days, the main stages start up on Friday
morning and run through Sunday night. All festivalgoers must leave
by 5 p.m. Monday, when the site officially closes.
5: Most headlining appearances of any band
Coldplay has headlined the Pyramid Stage a record five times. They
first topped the bill in 2002, followed by 2005, 2011, 2016 and,
most recently, 2024. Arctic Monkeys, Muse and Radiohead are among an
elite group of artists who have headlined three times.
3: Banned items that may surprise you
Among the list of banned items you might expect, including
narcotics, weapons and fireworks, are the less assuming Chinese
lanterns, body glitter and gazebos. The first two are verboten
because of environmental concerns — a couple cows have died from
ingesting the remnants of a Chinese lantern! — while a sudden rash
of gazebos would take up too much space in the busy campsites.
0: Number of plastic bottles sold on-site
Glastonbury banned single-use plastic in 2019, installing more
drinking water fountains around the site and encouraging
festivalgoers to bring reusable bottles — for water or some other
liquid of choice, of course.
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