Festivals have never been cheap, but somehow we are able to afford them every year. For the first time ever this year, Reading and Leeds festivals weekend tickets came to more than £200 with booking fees and delivery costs. In just 8 years, weekend ticket prices have almost doubled and day tickets have more than doubled.

Back in 1994, weekend tickets were £55. Seems like such a meagre amount compared to ticket prices today (price without fees is £192.50). Weekend tickets have yet to sell out more than 4 weeks since the date they went on sale, unlike the past few years where the manic rush for tickets caused main selling site ‘Seetickets’ to crash, leaving buyers wondering if they’ll be able to get a ticket at all. In these cases, many were unlucky and were forced to resort to touts, fake websites and eBay.

As a lot of us know, touts and eBay sell tickets from sellers who either aren’t attending anymore or those “oops-I-accidentally-bought-50-tickets-better-sell-them-for-twice-what-they’re-worth” people. Silly you. So many eager festival goers were so desperate to buy a ticket, that they would do anything to get hold of one; many paying more than £300 for a single weekend ticket. Others falling for “readingfestival2011tickets.com/thisisarealwebsiteNOT”.

This year the original tickets are still on sale and fans don’t need to do this. The question is why haven’t all the tickets sold out as quickly this year?

Money is tight, especially for Reading and Leeds typical festival goers: teenagers and young adults. Jobs haven’t been easy to come by these past few years with the economy in jeopardy of collapse; as a result, employment has been at an all time low. Not only for adults looking for full time jobs, but for the youth, there is a real lack of part time jobs. This has caused particularly young festival goers to either look away from festivals as they can’t afford to fund them this year or to be more selective with their money, choosing just one major festival.

Another reason for the lack of sales could be down to the fact that university fees are rising next year and deciding to save up for education would be a wiser move than splashing out on a festival ticket. With Reading and Leeds being one of the last major festivals to announce their line up, many may have already parted with their cash to pay for other festivals which announced their line up a lot sooner and many (most) may only be able to afford to fund one festival.

Summer Festival Ticket Prices (Before Fees)

Reading & Leeds: £199.50

Glastonbury: £195.00

Sonisphere: £180.00

Download: £180.00

V Festival: £175.00

Isle Of Wight: £175.00

More and more people have come to realise that the amount of money they spend on top of the ticket price is extortionate. There’s the cost of traveling back and forth to the festival, tents, camp chair, wellies, as well as the hundreds of overpriced but conveniently located food stalls. And not forgetting £4 for a pint lager! Many would say that overall they spend around £400 – £500 at every festival they attend, which is a lot of money for anyone to part with. In fact, you could probably go abroad for a lovely, mud-free holiday for cheaper than the price of the whole festival cost, although many would argue that you haven’t lived until you’ve been to at least one festival in your life! But are we really getting our money’s worth?

Well yes of course we are! Hundreds of bands are announced over the course of the weekend but it seems like sometimes, this isn’t enough. I bet your average festival doesn’t realise the millions of pounds go into security to keep us safe as the amount of crime committed every year is a growing concern. Festival organisers also need to rent portaloo’s (yes I know they’re gross), the stages, the land on which the festival takes place as well as a whole lot of other necessary equipment and man power. As the economy tightens, everyone suffers. Prices of products rise and for these companies to gain a sufficient profit, and we always pay more.

Back in the early 90’s, there were only 2/3 stages when ticket prices cost less than day tickets do now. Today we have 7, but do we really need all these stages? The biggest reason for all these stages is variety. The Alternative Stage features comedian’s and sketch shows and is a very relaxed tent. The BBC Introducing Stage is a great way to see who’s new and to give upcoming acts a chance to show us what they’re made of. The Lock Up is the punk stage and The Dance tent is, well, the dance tent. So Reading and Leeds are offering a whole host of different bands and acts to sink your teeth into.

Festival Republic, the Reading and Leeds festival organisers, are trying to make the festivals more accessible for all ages and tastes. This in effect produces a larger target audience as it would appeal to anyone and everyone. This is why I believe that although the festivals have yet to sell out, does not mean they won’t. But could Reading and Leeds be losing its appeal to the wider audience?

Yes. The biggest problems are the line-up and the cost of a weekend ticket. People want more for their money and what Reading gains from having a broad line up it loses to new more specifically targeted festivals such as Sonisphere who offer more appealing line ups and cheaper weekend tickets. When push comes to shove it’s obvious which festival they’d go for.

One vital element that could be missing from the Reading and Leeds festival’s overall experience is the lack of entertainment, especially during the early hours of the morning. Download Festival has a cinema tent every night, along with a tent full of unknown bands as well as silent discos and funfairs that go late into the night. This is all days before bands start so even if you arrive early, you’re guaranteed not to be bored! Reading and Leeds have a cinema tent but only the nights the bands start. So if you buy an Early Bird ticket for Reading and Leeds, what do you get? Funfair (which is useless in the rain as we all learnt last year) and well, that’s it. Oh, and perhaps a better place to camp before everyone else gets there the following morning.

Festivals are expensive and always will be, as demand for bigger and better bands will push the boundaries of our budgets and willingness to part with our hard earned cash and as competition continues to be push each festival to the limit. But where’s the cut-off point of how much Festival Republic can charge for their tickets? Maybe we’ve already reached it.