11/03/2026
Dear Burghfesters,
Since 2016, you have helped shape Burghfest through your feedback and we have always listened. We introduced entry charges to protect our licence, shared costs fairly across all attendees, restructured the fairground tickets, and improved the event year on year. None of that would have happened without you.
This year we need your help again, because we are facing some genuinely tough decisions.
Costs have risen significantly year on year. In 2025 we ran the event on a very slim margin. Our thinnest since Burghfest began. This puts the charitable donations we all care about at real risk. We also faced a serious security incident on Saturday evening, in which a small group of local youths, to whom entry was refused, remained outside throwing objects into the site including the children's play area, threatening volunteers, and forcing us to temporarily close the gates.
This caused real distress to families queuing to enter or leave, and significantly reduced our income at a critical point in the evening. Despite two 999 calls, no police attended.
A full incident report was submitted to West Berkshire Council Licensing and Thames Valley Police.
This raises a difficult question for 2026.
In 2025 we issued approximately 1,500 under-18 wristbands alongside around 2,200 adult tickets: Nearly one under-18 for every 1.5 paying adults. Unaccompanied teenagers generate significant security and stewarding costs while contributing very little revenue.
A further challenge is that many teenagers congregate in the music tent, a number having consumed alcohol off-site before arriving.
Because of the delay between drinking and visible intoxication, they pass entry checks and only show signs later inside the event affecting the atmosphere for paying adults.
Together, these pressures are pushing costs beyond what the event can sustain.
The challenge is one of balance. Burghfest is, and should remain, a community event that includes our entire community and age ranges. But we need a model that is financially viable and safe for everyone or there will not be a Burghfest to come back to.
Nothing is decided. Your views will directly shape what we do. This survey takes about 5 minutes. Please be honest with us.
Thank you for being part of what makes Burghfield so special.
The Burghfest Team
Dear Burghfesters, Since 2016, we have been proud of our continual response to feedback to make the event better for everyone in the community. As we review many of the lessons learned from last year, we feel it appropriate to engage you, our community, before we go much further.
