Glastonbury aims to return bigger
The Glastonbury Festival is hoping to expand to allow up to 20,000 more people to attend next year, taking its capacity close to 175,000.
The event is not taking place this year but organisers are already working out how to accommodate more people in 2007.
The Glastonbury Festival's total capacity in 2005 was 153,000
Half of the increase will go to fans and the other half to festival crew.
Operations manager Melvin Benn revealed the plans at the launch of a new "genteel" festival, Latitude, offering art and literature as well as music.
And festival founder Michael Eavis told the BBC News website the site would expand by 100 acres into neighbouring fields to accommodate the increase.
THE GROWTH OF GLASTONBURY
1970 - 1,500 people
1971 - 12,000
1982 - 25,000
1986 - 60,000
1998 - 100,500
2007 - 173,000?
Any extra profit would go to charity, he said.
The annual rush for Glastonbury tickets has reflected the festival's growing popularity in recent years.
All 112,500 weekend tickets sold out in less than three hours last year, with many fans missing out in the scramble.
The total capacity in 2005 was 153,000, including passes for staff, media, artists and locals.
Mr Benn, managing director of Mean Fiddler Festivals, said: "We are going to grow the festival. I'm anticipating growing it by up to 20,000 people next year."
It would give the festival its largest legal attendance - but in 2000, an estimated 200,000 people turned up, half of whom were gatecrashers.
-- may mean a fair number more working opporttunities for those not able to get tickets 
