Glastonbury Festival records loss of £3.1 million in 2021

11 January 2022, 12:01 | Updated: 11 January 2022, 16:41

According to reports, the Somerset festival has lost millions after having to cancel its festival two years in a row due to the pandemic.

Glastonbury recorded losses of £3.1 million in 2021, after having to cancel two instalments of its festival.

The famous Somerset festival was due to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2020, but was forced to close its doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.

At the time, the world-famous event enforced a fallow year, with the hopes of returning in 2021, but it sadly had to be postponed for another year.

Now, according to new documents obtained be Billboard magazine and now confirmed by the festival, it has been revealed that Glastonbury recorded losses of £3.1 million in 2021, which saw its annual turnover fall from £45m to just £950,000

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Festival founder Michael Eavis has previously talked about the risk of the festival going bankrupt if it couldn't take place.

Speaking to The Guardian in 2020 about their 2021 instalment he said: "We have to run next year, otherwise we would seriously go bankrupt … It has to happen for us, we have to carry on. 

"Otherwise it will be curtains. I don't think we could wait another year."

Luckily the festival organisers were awarded a grant through the government's Cultural Recovery Fund.

Taking to Twitter in April last year, they wrote: "We’re grateful to have been offered an award from the Culture Recovery Fund. After losing millions from the cancellation of our last two Festivals, this grant will make a significant difference in helping to secure our future."

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