How To Get Free Concert Tickets In The UK

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I'm Steph, mum of three! 👋
Here, I share practical insights on making (and saving!) money. With a knack for budgeting and a passion for financial freedom, I've picked up lots of tips & tricks along the way. And I can't wait to share them with you here!

Looking for some free concert tickets in the UK? Didn’t think it was possible? Well… sometimes it is. Okay so you may not be able to grab tickets to your favourite bands (although you never know!) but you can certainly get some free events in. We’ll show you how!

Where To Get Free Gig Tickets

Gig tickets can be expensive, right?

If like me, going to concerts was something you enjoyed pre-the kids and haven’t been for a while, why not see if you can grab some free tickets and have yourself a night out on the cheap?

Having kids and growing your family, for a lot of us, is a time when you need to be counting the pennies and not splurging on those unnecessary (but oh! so fun!) nights out.

Entertainment is something we used to budget for but mostly it involved fun things for the family as a whole rather than just me and the hubby.

But that doesn’t mean we didn’t used to love going to concerts. We did. And given half the chance we still would. So free concert tickets? I’m all over it :)

Here’s some of the better known and proven ways to be able to get to a gig for free. It’s worth keeping an eye on lots of these sites and seeing what comes up as you never know your luck!

And honestly, with small kids and a crazy home, a free night out’s better than no night out, right?!

More Freebie Posts

StubHub

StubHub have a section on their website called what other than Absolutely Free Tickets where you can sign up to be sent…details of when and where free tickets to events become available.

The reason they offer this is because lots of places hold free events but they still need to be ticketed and Stubhub do this for the organisers.

The tickets are free, it’s just the event they’re organising so they can control numbers. This is a great way to be informed through your email when an event’s happening as well as being able to book your tickets.

Be quick though, this is popular!

Ticket Master

Ticket Master is another one of the ticketing giants like Stubhub who offer free tickets to events.

You can have a look on their site and see what’s on and click through to get your free tickets. There’s not only concerts but discos and currently as I write, there’s a free ballet you can go to if that’s your thing!

Blue Light Tickets

Blue Light tickets is another part of the Blue Light Discount card.

The tickets Blue Light offer all NHS and emergency services staff the chance to get tickets to free events.

The event’s on offer include music to sports to comedy to cinema and theatre. It’s a great place to go if you’re eligible to get some fab days and nights out, all totally for free.

Is Blue Light Tickets Legit?

Blue Light tickets is 100% legit. They’re part of the Blue Light group and are registered and run by the same people.

The Blue Light card has over 2 million members and is well trusted by many people within the emergency services, NHS and the caring community amongst others.

Tickets For Good

Tickets For Good is a site that’s set up to distribute event tickets to those working fo the NHS. Although the primary ticket holder needs to work for the NHS they can also bring non NHS guests along with them.

Larger event organisers donate tickets to Tickets For Good and then NHS workers can get these tickets.

There is a £3.50 booking fee you’ll need to be paid but this is still massively discounted.

Very occasionally there will be an extra charge on your tickets but of course you can choose the tickets that are free if you don’t want to pay the extra charge.

Concerts For Carers

Concerts For Carers partners with the o2 to offer NHS workers and those in the caring community the chance to win tickets to some of the biggest events happening around the UK.

Concerts For Carers was set up as a thank you during the pandemic and the tickets they send out are totally free. Well worth signing up to this site and trying your luck.

Volunteer At The Event

Volunteering at events means you get to be at the event, for free!

You’ll have to do some work but generally the atmosphere’s awesome and you’ll have a great time.

The o2 has a jobs available pag e so if that’s near to you that would be a good place to start looking, otherwise give concert venues near to you a call and ask how you can volunteer.

HotBox will help you find volunteer work at music events and festivals.

Enter Competitions

Competitions are great aren’t they, when we remember to enter them.

Some people make a living out of entering them but if like me you’re one of those people who think it’s everyone else who gets lucky, I guess we should remember you need to be in it to win it and actually enter them in the first place :)

There are competition sites, but your local radio station as well as the national stations are always offering free gig tickets as competition prizes.

You don’t need to listen to the radio 24/7 to know about the competitions they’re offering, the competition prizes are listed on radio stations websites and so if there’s something you particularly want to go to, you’ll know how to enter.

Seat Fillers

Seat-fillers.com is a pretty cool website. No event organise likes empty seats and becoming a seat filler is one way to get yourself to the event without paying a penny.

It maybe a film, live music gig, theatre production, or an awards ceremony such as the MTV awards, anywhere there’s seats that might need filling, you could get yourself into.

You can get at least two tickets (and up to 6!) to any events you’re offered so you won’t be going out alone and events are held all over the country, not just London.

You need to sign up as a seat filler and then you’ll be sent details of tickets you can put yourself down for. There’s a small booking fee you’ll need to pay but the tickets themselves are free!

Why Do Organisers Give Tickets Away?

There’s a few reasons event organisers give tickets away fro free.

One of the main reasons is that the event itself is a free event and the organisers just need it to be ticketed so they can control numbers for safety reasons.

There are a few sites that have either started during the pandemic or have become more popular recently, that reward carers and emergency workers and NHS workers with free tickets to events.

And then there is the seat fillers reason, which is that lots of places don’t like to have empty seats, it doesn’t give a good impression of the event if there are a load of empty seats: this could be because the star of the show is relatively unknown and so struggles to book out a whole venue yet, or the venue’s in a far flung place, or it’s simply not all that popular.

Whatever the reason, you get some free tickets and a free night out. So I for one am not complaining!

How To Get Free Backstage Passes At Concerts

Getting backstage passes at a concert or gig is a lot harder than just getting the tickets.

If backstage passes are available at an event it’s usually because the headliner is popular. Therefore getting your paws on some backstage passes while not impossible, isn not going to be especially easy.

The main way we know to get free backstage passes is to win them. Lots of the radio show gig ticket prizes come with back stage passes. It’s a long shot to try and grab these but if it’s someone you’re desperate to meet, it’s always worth a try.

How To Make Sure Concert Tickets Aren’t Fake

If you’re getting your tickets through an approved seller they should have already validated your tickets and made sure they’re not fakes.

However that said, people buy and sell tickets all the time and fakes do make an appearance from time to time.

The simplest way to make sure your tickets are real is to call the venue ahead of time and ask them to look you up on their system and make sure your tickets are valid.

You used to be able to look for the holograms on the ticket itself and other markers but forgeries have come a long way in the last few years and they know how to get around these water marks. Calling the venue will ensure you’re really going to the ball!!