Tickets for next year’s Glastonbury festival took more than an hour to sell out after the site experienced a “technical problem”.
The second release of tickets was made available from 9am on Sunday and sold out by 10.03am – longer than the typical 30 minutes it takes for the festival.
Many users reported the site repeatedly crashing, as See Tickets, the company running ticket sales for the festival, asked people to “bear with us” while they were “working on a technical problem”.
Festival co-organiser Emily Eavis apologised to those who failed to get tickets on Sunday morning. “Although we are thrilled that so many of you want to come to next year’s Glastonbury, we’re sorry that a huge number of people missed out on a ticket this morning – because demand far outstripped supply.
“Thank you to everyone who tried to buy a ticket. Your loyalty to this festival is deeply appreciated. There will be a ticket resale in spring 2023, so if you didn’t get one, please do try again then.”
Coach tickets, which include transport to the Worthy Farm venue in Somerset, sold out in 22 minutes last Thursday, with many people reporting that the website did not even load for them.
In 2019, the last time tickets went on sale, about 2.4 million people tried to get tickets for the event, which has a capacity of 210,000 including staff and volunteers.
The cost of tickets has risen from £265 plus a £5 booking fee in 2019 to £335 plus £5 booking fee for next year, but the increase does not seem to have deterred festivalgoers. Eavis blamed the increase on the “enormous rises in the costs of running this vast show” while “still recovering from the huge financial impact of two years without a festival because of Covid.”
She said that the usual opportunities would be available for “thousands of people” to volunteer or work as part of the crew. “In these incredibly challenging times, we want to continue to bring you the best show in the world and provide our charities with funds which are more vital than ever.”
Glastonbury celebrated its 50th year this summer after the pandemic forced organisers to cancel the festival twice. The event returns to Worthy Farm from Wednesday 21 June to Sunday 25 June, with the lineup yet to be revealed.
