Glastonbury’s ‘one big family’ vibe vanished when I was diagnosed with cancer and asked for a refund
Natalie Hill, 36, was initially denied a refund by Glastonbury bosses - Natalie Hill
Glastonbury organisers told a cancer sufferer that she would only qualify for a refund if the festival hit this year’s fundraising targets for Oxfam and Greenpeace.
Natalie Hill, 36, was diagnosed with skin cancer on May 3, the final day that tickets for the festival could be refunded.
Two weeks ago, she had an operation to remove the cancer from her leg, which has left her unable to walk. Ms Hill is still waiting for the results of further tests to see if the cancer has spread elsewhere in her body.
Once she had processed her diagnosis and realised she wouldn’t be able to go to Glastonbury, the mother-of-one emailed festival organisers to ask for her £360 back, or for the ticket to be deferred to another year.
Festival organisers initially told her that she would not be able to get a refund, but after The Telegraph intervened, Glastonbury told her she might be able to have one – but only if they met their charitable fundraising targets.
Glastonbury’s popularity means that tickets, which for this year cost £355 with a £5 booking fee, sell out within minutes. A deposit of £75 per person is required, with booking limited to six tickets, and prospective attendees have to have registered in advance to buy tickets.
More than 2.5 million people applied for tickets for this year’s festival, and in November, the final round of resale tickets for general admission sold in 22 minutes.
The cost of a Glastonbury ticket has jumped more than 90pc since 2010, when general admission cost £185 and Stevie Wonder was a headline act. It is possible to book “Refund Protection” at a cost of £8.50 per ticket, but Ms Hill said she didn’t think it was worth paying for, having read the list of exemptions.
In an email, Ms Hill was told that she would need to post her paper tickets back to the festival, alongside printed out medical documentation to prove that she has been diagnosed, in order to be considered for a “sympathetic discretionary refund”.
The email continued: “Any such refund issued at this point would be confidential and contingent of the Festival having funds available post event, having met its target for charitable giving.”
The festival has given its charitable partners, which include Oxfam, Greenpeace, and WaterAid, approximately £2m a year “in recent years” according to its website.
She was also told that she would not be able to move the tickets to another year.
Ms Hill said: “It is really disappointing and really at odds to the whole inclusive, fun ethos of ‘We’re all one big happy family, peace and love man’, but actually we are not going to give you your money back and we’re not going to say you can transfer your ticket to another year.
“That’s just really jarring with the projection of the Glastonbury “vibe”. Everyone thinks of it as a really lovely thing,” she added.
She said that she would be avoiding coverage of the event this weekend on television and radio, and had told friends not to come over for a viewing party because it makes her too upset.
“You literally can‘t turn on the TV without it being somewhere. My friends have offered to come around to do a Glsatonbury viewing party this weekend, but I am like, ‘No.’ I am actively trying to avoid coverage but it’s really hard.
“I do want to avoid it because it just makes me really sad. One that I am not there, but two that this really horrible and unexpected thing has happened to our family,” Ms Hill said.
The festival still issues paper tickets, for which attendees have to pay £9.95 postage. The tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable, the festival says, in order to prevent touts selling them on.
Ms Hill said that the refunds process, which would require her to post the physical tickets back alongside printed evidence of her illness, would place a significant additional burden on her husband, who is looking after her and their two-year-old daughter while she is unwell.
Ms Hill added that she was disappointed that the ticket would now not be used at all.
She said: “The fact that you can’t even transfer it to another registered person seems such a shame when it is so in demand, that there is a ticket going to waste.”
The Glastonbury Festival was contacted for comment.
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