At the TRNSMT 2025 festival in Glasgow, a visitor attempted to see how much they could buy with £20. Last year, a similar budget allowed for a burger, chips, a pint, and water. However, this year’s prices were significantly higher. The visitor found that the cost of an Ultimate Smash Burger Meal had risen from £12 to the price of the burger alone.

After exploring various food stalls, they opted for salt and chilli chicken with noodles for £11.70 and a pint of Carlsberg Pilsner for £6.75. This left them with just enough money to consider buying water but ultimately exceeding their budget by £2.60 if they did so. Fortunately, free water points were available throughout the festival.

Spending a total of £18.45 was unexpected but highlighted concerns about rising food and drink prices at festivals, particularly affecting younger attendees who may not have sufficient funds to enjoy such events fully. The experience underscored how inflation has impacted festival costs and raised questions about affordability in today's economic climate.

Original article (trnsmt) (glasgow) (affordability)

This article doesn't give you a lot of things you can do or follow as steps. It's more like a story about someone at a festival and how much money they spent. It doesn't teach you anything new or give you any special knowledge. The story is about how expensive things are at festivals, which might be important to know, but it doesn't really help you with your own money or tell you what to do. It's just a story about one person's experience and how they felt about it. It doesn't have any rules or plans for you to follow, and it doesn't make you feel better or give you hope. It's just a story, and it doesn't seem to be trying to make money from ads or clicks, but it also doesn't give you any useful information or help you with anything.

"The visitor found that the cost of an Ultimate Smash Burger Meal had risen from £12 to the price of the burger alone."

This sentence uses a passive voice construction to obscure the agent responsible for the price increase. By saying "the cost had risen," it implies an unknown or uncontrollable force caused the price hike, rather than a specific entity making a deliberate decision. This passive construction downplays the role of businesses or organizers in setting prices and shifts focus away from potential profit-driven motives. It also avoids directly addressing the impact of inflation, which is a key factor affecting festival costs and affordability.

The text conveys a range of emotions, primarily highlighting concerns and disappointment about the rising costs of festival experiences. The visitor's initial excitement about attending the TRNSMT festival and their curiosity about what they could afford with a limited budget sets the scene. However, this excitement quickly turns to disappointment as they realize the impact of inflation on food and drink prices.

The strength of these emotions is moderate to strong. The visitor's disappointment is palpable as they discover that their budget, which previously covered a burger, chips, a pint, and water, now falls short, leaving them unable to fully enjoy the festival's offerings. This disappointment is further emphasized by the mention of free water points, which serves as a reminder of the financial constraints they face.

The purpose of these emotions is to create empathy and understanding among readers. By sharing the visitor's experience, the text aims to evoke a sense of shared frustration and concern about the rising costs of festivals, particularly for younger attendees who may have limited financial means. This emotional appeal is a powerful tool to draw attention to the issue and encourage readers to consider the impact of inflation on accessibility and enjoyment of such events.

The writer employs various techniques to enhance the emotional impact of the message. One notable strategy is the use of specific, descriptive language to paint a vivid picture of the visitor's experience. Phrases like "attempted to see how much they could buy" and "opted for" create a sense of determination and choice, respectively, adding depth to the narrative. Additionally, the comparison between last year's budget and this year's prices effectively illustrates the impact of inflation, evoking a sense of loss and frustration.

By personalizing the story through the visitor's experience, the writer builds trust and engages readers on an emotional level. This narrative approach, combined with the use of emotional language and descriptive details, guides readers to share the visitor's concerns and consider the broader implications of rising festival costs in today's economic climate.