Glasto tickets to be sold on high street

Although the competition to clap hands on festival tickets to high profile events has often resembled a death match in recent years, this year thousands of Glastonbury tickets are still available to purchase just two weeks before the event. Tickets are now set to be sold via high street store HMV in major UK cities. Although pre-registration will not be necessary, photo ID must be provided when arriving onsite.

This situation has led many to question why tickets to the UK’s most famed festival are still available, when – last year – tickets completely sold out from the overloaded website in just three hours.

Festival organisers, unsurprisingly, are not writing off Glastonbury just yet, blaming the poor weather conditions of the past few events for the slower demand for tickets. "It’s been so wet," says a spokesman of the recent and highly publicised rain-soaked and muddy conditions. With mixed weather forecasts currently circulating for this year’s event, festival chief Michael Eavis has added his own thoughts, suggesting that oak leaves have arrived at the farm earlier than ever before, and thus hint at good weather.

Alternatively, critics have suggested it is this year’s line up that has led to the diminished ticket sales. Indeed, the surprise addition of Jay-Z as a headliner has caused more controversy than any other summer event, with everyone from Noel Gallagher to Duffy shuffling out of their cave to publicly deride the idea of seeing a hip-hop artist at the top of the bill. However, as a festival that carries almost a thousand acts, the punter is always free to "pick and choose," rebuff the organisers.