Glastonbury Festival donated a record-breaking £3.7million to good causes in 2023, organisers have revealed.
Each year, the legendary Worthy Farm event raises funds for Oxfam, Greenpeace and WaterAid – which are its joint charity partners – as well as numerous other organisations and campaigns.
For the 2023 edition, Glastonbury also made a donation towards the Red Cross’ Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territory Appeal to provide immediate and urgent medical support for all those in need.
Other beneficiaries this year included War Child, homeless charity Centrepoint, and organisations working to help communities living in poverty across the UK such as Fareshare, Foodcycle and Beauty Banks.
Glastonbury supported refugees and asylum seekers too via Safe Passage UK, Refugee Council and more.
In a new post on social media, festival co-organiser Emily Eavis announced: “It’s wonderful for us to be able to let you know that we have donated a record amount of over £3.7m to charitable causes & campaigns this year, helping those facing challenges in the UK and across the world.
“It is thanks to your support for the Festival that this has been possible. You can read about the hundreds of organisations on our website now.”
She concluded: “Thank you to every one of you who comes and allows us to be able to make a bit of a difference to those that need it right now.” You can see Eavis’ post above.
A separate post from the event’s official channels read: “Glastonbury Festival is thrilled to have supported some incredible causes in 2023. It’s thanks to you that we’ve been able to make substantial donations to help those facing challenges worldwide.
“By the end of 2023, we’ll have made payments of over £3.7m to charitable causes and campaigns.”
The update went on to confirm that, in addition to the £3.7million, Glastonbury raised over £1million for the Syria-Turkey Earthquake response through its Oxfam Crowdfunder DEC Appeal.
Back in February, the festival donated 10 pairs of tickets to raise money for the appeal. Fans were given the chance to win a variety of experiences by paying £10 into the fundraiser per entry.
Additionally, Glasto auctioned off tickets and various “once in a lifetime opportunities” in aid of the Trussell Trust. Organisers have now announced that this auction raised £116,000 for the charity.
In April, Glastonbury launched a Willy Wonka-style ticket competition via Oxfam and Tony’s Chocolonely who were “united in the mission to eradicate the injustice of poverty”.
You can read more about Glastonbury 2023’s charity work here.
This year’s festival staged headline performances by Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Elton John.
Glastonbury 2024 is set to take place between June 26-30. The first two batches of tickets went on sale last month, but have now sold out. A resale is expected to be held in the spring.
No acts have been announced as of yet. Recently, it was reported that Madonna, Dua Lipa and Coldplay would be topping the bill next summer. Emily Eavis, however, subsequently said the rumours about the confirmed headliners were “untrue”.
The speculation around Madonna’s potential appearance on Worthy Farm came after Eavis shared an image from a ‘Celebration Tour’ concert in London. The Queen Of Pop is available in June as it stands, with her run of North American dates scheduled to end in April.
In October, Eavis revealed that the Legends Slot on Sunday afternoon would be occupied by a female artist in 2024. She also hinted once again that there could be two female headliners.
“… Last week I got a call from a really big American artist saying this person’s around next year,” Eavis explained. “And I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is incredible’. Thank God we held the slot.”
Eavis went on to reiterate that she was “really passionate about gender split” on the line-up, having faced some criticism in regards to this year’s all-male headliners. “I’m always trying to make it the most balanced, diverse bill,” she said.