19 Ways To Get Free Festival Tickets

Dreaming of your ultimate music festival line-up but don't have the budget to make it to your favourite event this summer? Here's how you can score FREE festival tickets to music festivals across the globe (and you don't need to be an influencer!)

Let's be honest, life is expensive these days and the price of music festival tickets has shot up. But if, like me, you love your live music events, you'll still be desperate to see your favourite acts and frolic in the festival fields this summer. I've spent the last decade attending music festivals across the UK and around the world, and yet I've actually only paid for a handful of festival tickets. Jammy, I know.

But how have I done it? Well, you'd be surprised but there's actually a number of ways you can score free festival tickets – or at least save huge amounts of money on your entry. The last festival where I paid for a ticket, I actually managed to score tickets for myself and two friends and saved over 60% on each ticket! Read on to find out all the ways you can get cheaper or free music festival tickets...

19 Ways To Get Free Festival Tickets

1. Save up to 60% on festival tickets

Festival tickets are super expensive at the moment with some charging £300+ for a ticket. Honestly, you could easily go and spend a week in Europe for the price some are charging, especially when you add in food, drink and travel.

When I recently went to Latitude Festival in Suffolk, I faced the same issue and I just wasn't willing to pay that much. Luckily, we found StubHub which offers resale festival tickets often at huge discounts. We waited until the week before the festival and managed to score 3x Latitude Festival tickets at 60% off per ticket! One thing I love about the platform is it comes with a FanProtect 100% Guarantee that "your tickets will arrive in time for the event, be valid for entry and exactly what you purchased".

>> Check out resale tickets for upcoming music festivals

2. Work as a journalist or freelance writer

This is one of my favourite and actually how I started out getting festival tickets for free. I worked as a journalist for a local newspaper and managed to score free tickets to a music festival that happened in my hometown. It was incredible and really opened my eyes to the art of blagging!

You don't have to be a music journalist to do it, there's lots of online magazines and newspapers, even large websites, that need writers and content creators. Why not you? You don't even have to be on staff, sometimes you can simply exchange a review or article for a free paid of festival tickets. Often if you get press passes, you'll also have access to the VIP camping and can even get backstage!

Those who already work as a freelance writer or journalist – if you love festivals you could be missing a trick and could actually get paid to cover the event!

3. Enter competitions to win festival tickets

Every summer there are loads of competitions you can enter to win festival tickets. I'll be honest, I never believed anyone actually won the tickets until my friend won two tickets to Latitude Festival through an Instagram competition! My renewed faith will have me applying to every festival out there. From social media competitions, to phone network comps (Vodafone always used to offer these through the app when I was with them), to radio station competitions to win FREE festival tickets. Keep your ears and eyes open for them and make sure you enter.

4. Round up a group of mates

Did you know that a lot of music festivals offer group schemes where you can take a group of mates and if you have enough of them, you can get a free festival ticket? I've also seen other deals where you can buy 25 tickets or more in a single booking and the festival will match every ticket with a FREE Drink Token. It's always worth checking out the group festival tickets deals and offers if you have a big group who are planning to go.

5. Get on VIP Guestlist

Two of my best friends have managed to score free tickets and VIP guest list for Latitude Festival two years running because they have a cousin who works for the festival. It's not what you know... it's who you know! Often people working for a festival (especially those high up or in marketing) will get the bonus of being able to slip a few friends on to the VIP list, so if you have any good contacts, now is the time to reach out! I even had a friend who was given VIP guest list tickets after meeting the lead singer from one of the headline acts in their record shop!

6. Volunteer for a ticket

There are so many different roles you can volunteer for at music festivals – from stewards to security, to litter picking, to first aid and welfare, to working on the bars or in food stalls. I've met so many festival lovers who have spent whole summers volunteering at festival after festival.

Some just soak up the chill vibes and hope to catch a set by their favourite artist, others come for a serious party and barely scrape themselves together for their shift. Trust me, if you've ever had someone on pills try and make your breakfast sandwich, or a stoned guy try and direct you around the car park at a festival - you know exactly what I mean.

Check out these websites to sign up as a festival volunteer:

• Festaff – Glastonbury, BST Hyde Park, Kendal Calling, Isle of Wight Festival, BoomTown Fair
• Hotbox Events – Download Festival, Latitude Festival, Leeds and Reading Festivals, Camp Bestival

7. Become an Influencer

Okay okay, I know I said you don't have to be an influencer but it is a viable option! Content creation doesn't have to mean having 100,000 followers, there are so many ways to create content and benefit from a free ticket to your favourite music festival.

Content is king right now, so if you do have a following or a platform that will leverage you to work with brands – it's worth looking into which brands sponsor your favourite music festivals. I've previously attended Wireless Festival with Debenhams and music festivals in Czech Republic and France with tourism boards and airlines. As an influencer, you can also access lots of great platforms where brands will allow you to pitch for free festival tickets in exchange for coverage. The Influence Room is a good platform for this, click here to join for free (and don't forget to put my referral code in: stake-media-which-field

8. Create Content For Brands

Maybe being an influencer isn't for you – but that doesn't mean content creation is out. Have you noticed lately just how many content creators are wandering around at festivals? Videographers, photographers, podcasters... If you're talented at creating content, it's worth seeing whether your skills could be of use to your favourite festival or your favourite brand who might be sponsoring the festival. You could create user-generated content, or even be available to be filmed – I was twice given tickets to festivals simply to be filmed having a fabulous time at the event in my full festival outfits!

9. Work for a charity or organisation

Often music festivals will have a community focused area or stalls dotted around the festival – I've seen everything from charities supporting women and children to drug abuse charities over the years. As someone who used to work for a charity, I know that often these stalls are mostly staffed by volunteers rather than paid staff, so it's a great way to do good for a great cause while getting to enjoy your favourite music festival.

Check out these websites to sign up as a charity festival volunteer:

• My Cause UK – Shambala, Noisily, Field Day, BST Hyde Park
• Volunteer with Oxfam Festivals
• Volunteer with MIND at festivals
• Volunteer with WaterAid at festivals
• Volunteer with Child Bereavement UK at festivals

10. Jump the festival fences

Okay I definitely don't recommend this one – but I know a lot of people who have jumped festival fences successfully and had a great time in the festival. I imagine it works a lot better if you know the festival and the area already – but again I can imagine the failure rate could be quite high for this.

11. Live within the immediate area

A lot of music festivals will offer free festival tickets to those living in the immediate area of the festival. I imagine to offset any annoyance at the loud music and chaotic roads over the weekend. But, if you're living close by, this is a great way to get to attend a festival right on your doorstep and benefit from sleeping in your own bed each night. 

12. Work for a food vendor

Which leads on nicely to food stalls! Festivals always have so many food stalls from burgers and pizzas, to tacos and chips. But did you ever stop and think how they manage to staff them for a whole summer of festivals? I know friends who have helped out on food stalls in exchange for free entry to the festival and sometimes even been paid as well! If you're lucky and your food stall is in a good spot near a stage - you can even see the performances while you work!

13. Edit a Festivals Magazine

When I was at university, I became the editor of an online festivals magazine. It wasn't paid but I made up for that by scoring as many free music festivals as possible – my record was attending 8 music festivals every weekend over the summer. It was an incredible summer – completely exhausting but so many memories made. You may not think this is an option for everyone – but I had zero journalism qualifications and no experience. I just had a sheer love of music festivals and writing, and a determination to find a way to fund my hobby!

14. Get a job in the festival industry

This one could vary hugely – I know people who work in freelance social media for festivals, I know others who literally create the infrastructure and set-up of a festival. There is a lot involved in creating such a huge events and it takes a village (or a team of staff) so why not see if you can find your dream job at your favourite festival. Or you could even find a role that allows you to work across multiple festivals each year. 

15. Become the entertainment

Music and arts festivals are always putting call-outs for entertainment, music acts and arts or theatre acts. I've seen synchronised swimmers, trippy boxing rings with magicians, sports day style activities and lots more. Got a special talent? Perhaps you're a great fire dancer or can put on a good show? Why not apply and become part of the festival? You'll make it one to remember, both for you and the festival-goers!

16. Barclaycard Entertainment

If you're a Barclaycard credit card holder, you could be eligible for Barclaycard Entertainment which gives you access to 5% off festival ticket prices, but also access to presale tickets for some live music events. It could be a great way to use the benefits for your credit card to the max, and to score tickets to that summer event you're dying to attend.

17. FREE festival tickets for NHS workers

Did you know that Tickets For Good is a website dedicated to providing free and discounted tickets for the NHS, charity sector workers and cost of living payment recipients? The tickets have been donated by the UK’s top live event partners to increase their social impact – what a great cause.

18. Go to 45+ FREE festivals & events in the UK

Okay sometimes you just want to see some live music and enjoy the vibes, not spend a weekend working at a festival. In that case, check out this list of 45+ Free UK festivals and carnivals organised by region. I know in my home town, the largest FREE music festival in Europe takes place every summer, Festival Too is always a hit and packs out the entire town.

19. Look for festivals offering low-income or free festival tickets

More live music events and festivals are trying to find ways to make their ticketing fairer and more sustainable including offering options for free tickets for low income or unwaged music lovers. Migration Matters is a music festival in Sheffield which has been described as "Britain’s largest festival about Sanctuary and refugees in the country". I was really impressed to see their sliding ticket sale system.