Glastonbury Glampers Lose Tickets and £40,000 as Firm Collapses
A luxury glamping provider serving Glastonbury festivalgoers has gone into liquidation, leaving its wealthy guests without their yurts or chauffeured rides to the Pyramid Stage. Yurtel, a pioneer of luxury camping, operated for 17 years and boasted of running "the only luxury camp that can drive our guests straight into the festival to our on-site festival reception".
The yurts and bell tents, restaurant, cocktail bar, and wood-fired hot tubs are located beyond the festival’s borders, but customers could enjoy a five-minute drive to the hospitality area behind the Pyramid Stage. Guest chefs who have designed menus at the camp include Thomasina Miers, the MasterChef winner and founder of the Wahaca restaurant chain, and Ravinder Bhogal, who is behind the Jikoni restaurant in London.
According to The Times, Glastonbury Festival said that Yurtel had not paid for any tickets prior to entering liquidation, so no tickets were secured for their guests. The company dealing with the liquidation emailed customers on Monday afternoon to say it could not fulfil "any ticket and accommodation bookings" because Yurtel "ceased normal trading operations on May 8, 2025, due to insolvency and will commence formal liquidation shortly". The email said: "Tickets to enter the festival have not been purchased on your behalf."
Customers have also been told by the liquidators they cannot get a refund from the company because "Yurtel did not hold customer monies in trust" as they "formed part of the company’s operating capital". One customer, Alice, 32, from Ormskirk, Lancashire, and her partner were looking forward to their tenth Glastonbury when they got the news. "If we just lost out on the yurt with a nice bed and a nice shower, that’s fine, but we’d lost our actual ticket," she said. "When I found out I just burst into tears. I was at work as well — it was awful."
Her father paid £40,000 this year for three yurts and six hospitality tickets. Alice said Yurtel only accepted bank transfer as payment so there was no chance to get their money back through their credit card company. "We’ve been told you need to get in touch with Glastonbury and see what alternatives they can offer," Alice said. "Apparently, Glastonbury has asked other glamping sites to make additional accommodation available for people affected … but we would have to pay again, roughly the same price."
As reported by The Times, Glastonbury Festival said it was "sorry to learn" that Yurtel Limited had appointed liquidators but that it had no involvement with its operation. The festival said: "Anyone who has paid Yurtel for a package including Glastonbury 2025 tickets will need to pursue any potential recompense available from them via the liquidation process as outlined in their communication to you. We are not able to incur the cost or responsibility of their loss or replacement."
Customers are being told to contact [email protected] to confirm their consent for them to share their details with the festival so they can help find alternative sources for tickets and accommodation. The company’s most recently available accounts, up to October 2023, show they had £570,000 in cash and about £760,000 in debt. The company said it had £117,000 of tangible fixed assets.
In the accounts, which did not have to be audited because of the small size of the company, Yurtel’s founder, Mickey Luke, whose full name is Michael Geoffrey Paul Suenson-Luke, said he was "confident of the company’s ability to continue as a going concern", adding: "This is with the support of the director and his associated companies." His events company Eclat Events Ltd, of which he is the sole director, reported capital and reserves of £150,000 in its unaudited accounts in March 2024.
Glastonbury is headlined this year by the 1975, Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo. Rod Stewart fills the Sunday afternoon "legend slot". The news of Yurtel’s collapse has left many of its customers disappointed and out of pocket. As The Times reports, the incident highlights the risks of booking luxury glamping services for festivals like Glastonbury.
Yurtel’s collapse has also raised questions about the glamping industry and the regulation of such businesses. The company’s failure to secure tickets for its customers and its inability to provide refunds has left many people without a festival experience they had been looking forward to.
The Times understands that Yurtel’s liquidators are working to resolve the situation and provide assistance to affected customers. However, for many, the damage has already been done, and the festival experience they had been planning for months has been ruined.
For those affected by Yurtel’s collapse, The Times advises that they contact the company’s liquidators or Glastonbury Festival directly to explore alternative options for tickets and accommodation.
