11 June 2024 , 10:46
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Glastonbury Festival's very own Emily Eavis responded to requests for the festival to have a ticketed ballot system.
When the final batch of tickets was released in April for this year's festival, where the likes of Dua Lipa, Coldplay, Little Simz, Sza, Burna Boy, Disclosure, Avril Lavingne and Shania Twain will perform, it sold out in 20 minutes as dedicated fans waited on their devices to purchase it.
A limited amount of ticket packages were sold out in 18 minutes just three days before. The initial batch came out in November and many fans were left disappointed when they missed out on the chance to attend the festival. They even asked organisers to create a ticket ballot system to make things fairer for fans.
Co-organiser Emily sat down with Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw for their Sidetracked podcast and said there was a 'discussion' about creating a new system. When questioned whether she thought about doing a ballot, she said: "It’s been a discussion, actually. I think there are so many people on our database that are registered for tickets. And I think a lot of them don’t try as hard as [others].
Co-organiser Emily discussed whether they'll implement a ticket ballot system (PA Archive/PA Images)"Half of them try really, really, really hard [to buy tickets] and half of them maybe try and then don’t – they’re not as bothered about coming. So I’m not saying… it’s hard to say the percentage exactly. And I think if we did a ballot, we’d end up with some people [getting tickets] who weren’t necessarily as bothered about coming."
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She added: "It’s really hard to say this year cause I know a lot of people didn’t get tickets, and they wanted them. But a lot of the time, people who really, really want them do get them through volunteering or through competitions. I know it’s hard, it is hard. It’s one of the worst sides to the job… there aren’t enough tickets for everybody.”
Emily said the organisers aren't able to 'do anything about it' and shut down any ideas about spreading the festival over two weekends. She said: "We just couldn’t – can you imagine?" Emily's father, Sir Michael Eavis, founded the festival on his Somerset farm in 1970 and is still involved, but his daughter and her husband Nick Dewey take on the majority of the organisation.
She said this year will feature a call for peace, led by performance artist Marina Abramovic, on the festival's main stage. She said: "It's just a few minutes of silence, with her on the stage, and that's going to be a beautiful moment."