Keeping the economy rocking
Apr 11 2008 by Peter McCusker, The Journal
GLASTONBURY Festival generates £73m for the world’s economy, a new study has revealed.
Research into the financial impact of the world’s biggest music festival, in Somerset, revealed that visitors spent £52m on and around the site last year.
A further £21m was spent organising and staging the event itself, according to the survey commissioned by Mendip District Council.
John Baker, of consultants Baker Associates, said: “We were commissioned by Mendip District Council and Glastonbury Festivals to carry out the study, which is one of the first to focus on the overall economic impact of the festival, and to improve understanding of its impacts on various areas of the local and regional economy. The study also reports on other areas that are linked to its impact on the economy, and how these issues can be looked at in the future to further build on the economic benefits that the Glastonbury Festival could bring to Mendip.”
The study discovered that the crowd of 177,500 people attending the festival in 2007, spend an average of £293.24 per person.
Total spending at the festival site in Pilton by revellers and traders was about £25.6m, and off-site spend was about £26.5m, giving a total spend of about £52m directly linked to the festival. Estimated spending by Glastonbury Festivals associated with staging the 2007 festival was £21.2m, over the period November 2006 to October 2007.
Organiser Michael Eavis extended the registration period for tickets this month, after sales proved slower than last year.
