Every summer that isn’t a fallow year, a working dairy farm tucked into the Somerset countryside becomes one of the largest temporary gatherings of people in the United Kingdom. That farm is Worthy Farm, and the event it hosts is Glastonbury Festival — officially the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts.
This guide answers the questions people most often search about the site itself: exactly where Worthy Farm is, how big it really is in acres, and how a family farm turns into a temporary city of roughly 210,000 people each festival year.
Quick Answer
Worthy Farm covers about 1,500 acres (610 hectares) of farmland in Pilton, Somerset, England — roughly 6 miles east of Glastonbury town and 3 miles northeast of Shepton Mallet, between the A361 and A37 roads. It has been the site of Glastonbury Festival in most years since 1970.
Where Is Worthy Farm? (Glastonbury Festival’s Real Location)
Despite the festival’s name, the event doesn’t actually take place in the town of Glastonbury. Worthy Farm sits between the small villages of Pilton and Pylle, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England, at the head of the Whitelake River valley. Its full postal address is Worthy Farm, Worthy Lane, Pilton, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 4BY.
The farm is roughly 6 miles (10 km) east of Glastonbury town, whose famous Glastonbury Tor overlooks the low-lying countryside often nicknamed the ‘Vale of Avalon.’ The nearest town by road is actually Shepton Mallet, about 3 miles to the northeast. Worthy Farm sits between the A361 and A37, the two main roads used by festival traffic each year.
How Big Is Worthy Farm? (Acreage & Scale)
Worthy Farm, the Eavis family’s working dairy farm, totals roughly 1,500 acres (about 610 hectares). Not all of that land is fenced off for the public every festival — the actively used festival site, covering the stages, campgrounds, and market areas, typically spans roughly 900 acres within the larger farm, with the remaining acreage left as working fields, farm buildings, and buffer land.
To put that in perspective, local news outlets have repeatedly mapped Glastonbury’s footprint onto entire towns and park systems to illustrate just how much ground it covers — it’s routinely described as one of the largest greenfield music festivals in the world by capacity. That scale is also why organizers cap attendance at roughly 210,000 people, well below the record crowd of about 300,000 that attended in 1994.
The Festival Experience
Beyond music, Glastonbury spreads across dozens of distinct areas — from the Pyramid Stage and Other Stage for major headline acts to the eclectic Park, Shangri-La, and Green Fields sections offering theatre, art installations, circus, cabaret, and alternative culture. Attendees typically camp on-site for the multi-day event, turning Worthy Farm into a temporary city for the better part of a week.
The festival maintains a strong environmental and charitable ethos: much of the workforce volunteers its time, and a share of proceeds supports humanitarian and environmental causes including Oxfam, WaterAid, and Greenpeace. That community-driven structure has helped Glastonbury retain its countercultural roots even as it has grown into a globally broadcast event organized through Glastonbury Festivals Ltd.
Getting to Worthy Farm & Tickets
Because Worthy Farm is working farmland rather than a permanent venue, there’s no year-round box office — access opens only during festival week, with campers typically allowed onto the site a few days before the music starts. Roads around Pilton, Pylle, and Shepton Mallet operate under special festival traffic management, and many attendees arrive by rail via Castle Cary station followed by a bus transfer, rather than driving all the way to the farm.
All tickets, including camping, are sold exclusively through the festival’s official ticket partner, and every ticket holder aged 13 and over must register in advance with a photo for security screening at the gates. Prices, on-sale dates, and travel details change every festival cycle, so the official Glastonbury Festival website is the only reliable source for current ticket costs, registration windows, and directions to Worthy Farm.
Fallow Years and Longevity
To protect the land from the strain of hosting hundreds of thousands of visitors, organizers periodically schedule ‘fallow years’ with no festival, letting Worthy Farm’s fields recover and giving crews time for infrastructure and drainage work. Fallow years have fallen roughly every five years historically, including 1996, 2001, 2006, 2012, and 2018; the festival was also cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a forced break rather than a planned fallow year. The most recent scheduled fallow year is 2026, with the festival confirmed to return June 23-27, 2027.
Michael Eavis has run the festival since the early 1980s, and his daughter Emily Eavis now leads much of its day-to-day operations. Attendance once peaked at around 300,000 in 1994, though the festival now caps capacity at roughly 210,000 to manage safety and site impact.
Worthy Farm / Glastonbury Festival FAQs
What is Worthy Farm?
Worthy Farm is a working dairy farm owned by the Eavis family in Pilton, Somerset, England. Since 1970 it has been the site of Glastonbury Festival, held on its fields in most years except scheduled ‘fallow years.’
How big is Worthy Farm?
Worthy Farm covers roughly 1,500 acres (about 610 hectares) in total, though only around 900 of those acres are typically fenced off and used for the festival’s stages, campsites, and markets each year.
How many acres is Worthy Farm?
About 1,500 acres in total, with roughly 900 acres actively used as the festival site during Glastonbury each year.
Where is Glastonbury Festival located?
Glastonbury Festival is held at Worthy Farm, between the villages of Pilton and Pylle in Somerset, England — about 6 miles east of Glastonbury town itself.
Where is Glastonbury held?
It’s held at Worthy Farm, Pilton, Somerset, England, between the A361 and A37 roads, roughly 3 miles northeast of Shepton Mallet.
Is ‘Worthy Farm festival’ another name for Glastonbury?
Yes — people sometimes search ‘Worthy Farm festival’ because Worthy Farm is the actual venue. The event’s official name is Glastonbury Festival (in full, the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts).
What’s the address of Worthy Farm in Pilton, England?
Worthy Farm, Worthy Lane, Pilton, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 4BY, England.
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