With the promise of great music and good times, the music festival scene is thriving, in both the UK and further afield. But, with so many festivals to choose from at varying price points, music lovers can be left wondering which ones offer the best value for money.
Savoo has analysed the most popular music festivals in the UK and Europe, comparing the price of a full festival ticket with the average cost of watching the top five headliners individually, to find out the estimated value of how much festival-goers can save by attending each festival.
Glastonbury is the ultimate value-for-money music festival for 2023
Glastonbury Festival is a mainstay of British popular culture. Every year, the festival attracts some of the top music artists from around the world, so it’s no wonder it tops the list as the best-value music festival. This year, festival-goers can catch the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’Roses, Elton John, and Lizzo, while saving an average of £1,737 compared with if they saw these artists individually.
Encompassing a wide variety of genres, Reading and Leeds Festival always attract a stellar mix of artists, and this year’s event could save people an average of £455. Following in third is the Northern powerhouse festival, Parklife, which could save fans up to £273 on average to see some of their favourite DJs all in one weekend.
Creamfields North is one of the UK’s worst-value music festivals, beaten out on savings by Creamfields South
Rock festival Download comes out as the UK’s least value-for-money music festival, offering an average of just £122 in savings. Closely following in second place is the electronic-dance festival Creamfields North, which offers average savings of £131.
Despite being similar versions of the same festival, Creamfields North and Creamfields South save ticket-holders slightly different amounts, with the Southern version offering better value for money with savings of up to £167. This may be in part due to slightly varied line-ups, for instance, David Guetta is only playing at the Northern version, and also due to differing ticket prices, with Creamfields South actually costing £20 less per ticket.
| Rank | Festival | Festival cost ticket 2023 (£) | Total cost to see 5 top headliners individually in concert (£) | Saving = Total cost of headliners – festival ticket cost (£) |
| 1 | Glastonbury Festival | £340.00 | £2,077.74 | £1,737.74 |
| 2 | Reading Festival | £286.20 | £741.42 | £455.22 |
| Leeds Festival | £286.20 | £741.42 | £455.22 | |
| 3 | Parklife | £135.00 | £408.23 | £273.23 |
| 4 | Secret Garden Party | £250.00 | £502.62 | £252.62 |
| 5 | TRNSMT | £200.10 | £442.11 | £242.01 |
| 6 | Victorious | £210.60 | £446.95 | £236.35 |
| 7 | Kendal Calling | £198.50 | £392.90 | £194.40 |
| 8 | Wireless Festival | £240.00 | £429.20 | £189.20 |
| 9 | Bluedot Festival | £209.00 | £394.51 | £185.51 |
| 10 | Nozstock The Hidden Valley | £208.57 | £386.66 | £178.09 |
| 11 | Creamfields South | £260.00 | £426.77 | £166.77 |
| 12 | Camp Bestival (Dorset) | £237.60 | £396.92 | £159.32 |
| 13 | Creamfields North | £280.00 | £410.63 | £130.63 |
| 14 | Download | £345.00 | £467.10 | £122.10 |
MEO Sudoeste is Europe’s best value for money music festival, with average savings of £424
Topping the list of Europe’s best value-for-money music festivals is MEO Sudoeste. The Portuguese festival boasts an eclectic mix of artists this year, with David Guetta, Niall Horan, and Metro Boomin all leading the line-up. Festival-goers can expect to save an average of £424, compared to if they paid to see all of these artists individually. Despite the plane ticket, David Guetta fans might actually save more money by heading to MEO Sudoeste rather than Creamfields North to see the DJ, with the Portuguese festival offering an average of £293 more than the UK festival in savings.
EXIT Festival, based in Serbia comes in second place overall with savings of up to £302, whilst Sziget in Budapest could see festival-goers saving an average of £269 in individual artist ticket costs.
Primavera Sound in Barcelona is the European festival that offers the least value for money in 2023, with people only expected to save around £146 to see some of the world’s best DJs all in one place.
| Rank | Festival | Festival cost ticket 2023 (£) | Total cost to see 5 top headliners individually in concert (£) | Saving = Total cost of headliners – festival ticket cost (£) |
| 1 | MEO Sudoeste | £110.40 | £534.60 | £424.20 |
| 2 | EXIT Festival | £96.26 | £398.74 | £302.48 |
| 3 | Sziget Festival | £322.36 | £590.87 | £268.51 |
| 4 | Hideout Croatia | £159.00 | £425.27 | £266.27 |
| 5 | Outlook Origins Festival | £153.00 | £403.56 | £250.56 |
| 6 | NOS Alive | £176.20 | £415.62 | £239.42 |
| 7 | Bilbao BBK Live | £175.75 | £411.69 | £235.94 |
| 8 | Rolling Loud Portugal | £199.73 | £416.51 | £216.78 |
| 9 | Mad Cool Festival | £199.54 | £414.91 | £215.37 |
| 10 | Afro Nation Portugal | £217.97 | £430.99 | £213.02 |
| 11 | Tomorrowland | £260.50 | £409.28 | £148.78 |
| 12 | Primavera Sound | £295.86 | £442.24 | £146.38 |
Ed Fleming, Managing Director at Savoo comments: ‘With festivals being one of the highlights of the summer season, it’s great to see how much music lovers can save when attending these iconic day or weekend events, where they can skip the extra cost of booking their favourite artists to see individually. Not only can festival-goers save money on ticket prices to see the biggest bands and artists in the world, they also will save on other additional expenses that come when attending gigs, such as transport.
Whilst festival goers can save money on gig tickets, they need to be mindful of some of the costs they can face when at the event itself, and prepare ahead of time to ensure they avoid any unnecessary spending. From bringing your own bottle lids and water bottles as well as a good food supply to avoid the sharp incline of costs for these items within the festival itself, to car-sharing with friends for the journey, festival-goers can find ways to make their day or weekend both enjoyable and affordable.’
You can view the full research from Savoo here: https://www.savoo.co.uk/resources/best-value-for-money-festivals
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