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Glastonbury fans hoping to get their hands on tickets to the 2027 festival were surprised to learn of a major change to the buying process, just moments before coach tickets went on sale.
On Thursday evening (1 October), the first wave of tickets were released and sold out in less than 30 minutes. The general sale is scheduled for 9am on Sunday 4 October.
Many fans had organised themselves into what is known as “syndicates” – where a group of Glastonbury hopefuls join forces in order to boost their chances of buying up to six tickets.
However, when they logged on to the site, they found that they were asked to enter their registration number first – instead of the previous system, where they got through the queue and then had to enter their registration number to complete the purchase.
The new method means that fans are assigned a unique place in the queue. Trying to enter the same registration number on different devices or browser windows does not provide a new queue spot.
It appears that the change was made in order to tackle bots and touts, as well as to try and make the ticket-buying process more democratic.
The Independent has contacted Glastonbury for comment.
There is now a mild air of panic among fans still hoping to secure tickets on Sunday.
“I’m hoping that the death of the Glastonbury syndicate has been greatly exaggerated,” Glastonbury fan Henry, 32, told The Independent.
“Removing the syndicates makes things more equal in terms of accessing tickets, but having a syndicate also rewards a level of determination and commitment to getting tickets which in some ways feels more fair – those who are really committed to getting them have a greater chance, which is why we’re in the syndicate in the first place.”
Jessica told The Independent that she set up a syndicate for the first time this year with 36 friends trying for six groups of six tickets, but all of them were unsuccessful. However, she and her friends plan on trying again for tickets on Sunday.
“If you’ve put in that effort into arranging a syndicate, researching all the tricks and things about VPNs and IP addresses, you feel like you deserve a better chance,” she said. “Now this change minimises all that, but it has made it more fair and I’m not against it at all. I do think it’s interesting that [Glastonbury] didn’t say they were making the change until yesterday.”
Disgruntled fans on social media also shared their dismay after failing to get their hands on coach tickets.
“For Glastonbury sale on Sunday, be very careful not to queue in two devices at the same time,” one fan warned. “Now the system ask for your registration number BEFORE you can join the queue and then if you queue twice the queue ID is THE SAME. No matter if you are on a vpn or data besides wifi.”
The festival will return following its traditional fallow year in 2026, taking place between Wednesday 23 to Sunday 27 June.
Rumours about who will headline next year’s event at Worthy Farm have been swirling for months, with Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis ruling out both Madonna and Oasis. The 2025 festival was headlined by UK rock band The 1975, Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts, and pop star Olivia Rodrigo.
Tickets for the weekend will be priced at £408 including a £5 booking fee per ticket – an increase of £29.50 from 2025, when tickets cost £378.50.
As part of the festival’s campaign to stop touts, fans must have registered to get tickets before 5pm on Friday 25 September.
