Count down to Glastonbury with all the numbers you need to know

Independent

3 days ago

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.
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.