Festival goers spend up to £9.3 billion just for Instagram image

UK festival goers are set to spend an average of £179 on clothes and accessories– close to the cost of a 2016 Glastonbury ticket – just to create the perfect festival image for Instagram, according to new research from B, the new money management app. 

That’s a staggering £9.6 billion on festival snaps this year and £29,602,125 being spent on Glastonbury alone. ‘Glastogrammers’ are buying accessories including designer sunglasses, Hunter Wellies and designer anoraks, essentials for the predicted washout, as seen on Instagram idols Daisy Lowe, Alexa Chung and Kendall Jenner.

The research also found that for some, festivals have become serious spending sprees, with one in ten (11 per cent) admitting to spending more money on going to a festival than their summer holiday.

And it’s clear that the need for likes, re-grams and comments goes beyond festivals.

Brits are splashing out £1,235 a year to live a so-called ‘Instagram Lifestyle’– including visiting restaurants and buying beauty and skincare products just to post on social media.

And with an average of 70 million photos shared every day on Instagram it’s no surprise people going to festivals are investing in their lifestyles to impress their friends.

Helen Page, Propositions and Marketing Director from B, comments:“B’s helpful tools and advice put you in control of your money so that whenever  you want to project the right image, whether it’s a festival, wedding or job interview, you’ll only have to worry about slipping in the mud, not in to the red.”    

Like celebrities seen on the festival scene, the top ten items that festival goers buy to perfect their Instagram festival look are:

Designer sunglasses (30 per cent)

Hunter wellies (29 per cent)

Statement accessories (19 per cent)

Maxi dress (17 per cent)

Statement make-up and body paint (14 per cent)

Branded hat (12 per cent)

Designer raincoat or anorak (11 per cent)

Dungarees (10 per cent)

Bomber jacket (nine per cent)

Designer trainers (8 per cent) and beauty items (8 per cent)

B is a liberating new way to manage your money with a current account and savings account that work together, wrapped up in a super-smart app. Along with functions that let people set up savings pots, tag and track spending or automatically sweep cash between current and savings accounts, it also “learns” as it is used. 

For more information you can visit youandb.co.uk, follow ‘youandb’ on facebook or tweet @helloB.