A report, commissioned by Glastonbury Festival, into the Festival’s economic impact, carried out by research specialists Fourth Street, found Glastonbury Festival to have a significant positive economic impact both nationally and in Somerset, generating around £168 million of income for UK businesses including £32 million for businesses based in Somerset.
The report states that the total cost of putting on the 2023 Glastonbury Festival was approximately £62 million, paid across 922 organisations providing services to the Festival. Of this £62 m, just under £12 million was paid to 258 companies in Somerset.
It then goes on to measure spend in the wider Somerset Community, calculated at £1.6 million as well as income for other businesses outside of the Festival site, with local hotels and B&Bs benefitting from spend in the region of £450,000. Unaffiliated camping and accommodation packages generated around of £6.5 million.
2023, Glastonbury Festival sustained over 1,100 UK jobs in total, 325 of which were based in Somerset. Of these, the Festival directly paid for work itself equivalent to around 255 full time jobs. Around 80 people worked for the Festival office in planning and administration (the equivalent of 55 full time jobs), most of whom live locally to the Festival.
In 2023, there were more than 10,000 volunteers at Glastonbury Festival – giving around 240,000 hours of their time for over 200 not-for-profit groups. Of these, 3,511 stewards raised £700,000 in total for their chosen organisations. Oxfam and Water Aid provided 2,500 and 700 volunteers on similar terms.
In 2023, Glastonbury Festival also made payments of over £3.7m to a range of charitable causes and campaigns.
https://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/information/educational-resources/economic-impact-summary-2023/
