Who’d be a Glastonbury fan? The legendary festival returns again in 2025, and this week marks an important date in the calendar for any festival fan: the ticket sales.
But wanting to buy a ticket is not the same thing as getting one – especially not with an estimated 2.5 million people trying to get their hands on 200,000 tickets.
To make things even trickier, this year the festival has shaken up their rules for buying tickets. It’s a departure from 10-plus years of tradition, so naturally people are slightly nervous about what that means for their ticket chances.
But don’t worry! Here’s our breakdown of the important bits to know about the new system – and how to maximise your odds of walking away triumphant.
What are the new rules for buying Glastonbury tickets?
On November 5, Glastonbury posted a statement on their website, announcing a shake-up to the way people bought tickets.
"The booking process itself for 2025 will be the same as in previous years. However, the way in which you join the booking process is changing,” they said.
Now, people who log on to get tickets will "randomly assigned a place in the queue" - similarly to how the sale worked for Oasis’ gigs on Ticketmaster.
This is likely to reduce the burden on the website – by cutting out the need to constantly refresh the website page, the way Glastonbury ticket sales usually work, the aim is to produce a faster and more efficient system.
And, according to Glastonbury, “once you get to the front of the queue, business resumes as normal, and festival hopefuls will enter registration numbers and postcodes for themselves and up to five other people."
But what does that mean for Glastonbury ticket applications?
Be on time
This year, the festival has said that anybody wanting to get a ticket should log onto the Glastonbury loading page before the ticket sale goes live. Once it does, everybody waiting will be assigned a random place in the queue – from 1st to 2 millionth. It’s completely random: being first on the loading page before the sale goes live doesn’t impact what place you get, so there’s no point logging on two hours before.
There’s a catch, though: anybody who logs on even a few seconds late will be sent straight to the back of that queue.
According to laptop brand LG gram, fans are willing to wait in online queues for an average of 5.4 hours when it comes to getting tickets. These are dedicated people – and if you’re at the back, the chances of getting lucky are practically nil. Don’t risk it.
One application per IP address
Yes, we know: to open multiple tabs or not to open multiple tabs? This year, the new guidance is that tabs are a thing of the past: instead, Glastonbury have said that only one buying attempt will be allowed per IP address.
That means it’s time to marshal the devices. This year, 5.95 million of them will be vying for tickets – that’s multiple per person – while apparently 48 per cent of people have considered buying a second laptop to better their chances of doing so. Don’t miss out.
Don’t refresh the page
We’re all used to doing it, but one of this year’s big no-no's is refreshing. Once in the queue, hopeful customers will be assigned a random number – but refreshing isn’t likely to make the number go down. In fact, the opposite.
"Please do not refresh this page or use multiple devices or tabs or you may lose your place in the queue,” the website stated.
All the other rules apply
Just because there are new conditions doesn’t mean all the other tricks don’t apply. That involves making sure you’ve registered on time, making sure your WiFi is up scratch and making sure your group has a communal credit card to hand for help paying that deposit without any risk of it bouncing.
