Our budget is entirely public and linked from the wiki, nothing is hidden, and nobody is drawing a salary. We're only just going to break even at this point. I

Our budget is entirely public and linked from the wiki, nothing is hidden, and nobody is drawing a salary. We're only just going to break even at this point. It turns out that equipping a barren field with generators, lighting, wiring, power distribution, marquees, seating, toilets, showers, water, cooking equipment, bar equipment, security fencing, safety equipment, first aid equipment, radios, and plant equipment for moving the aforementioned everything, is expensive. Especially when you're doing it on a scale <1000 people. The most interesting thing for me has been the cost of getting water in the field. There's supposedly a standpipe there, but the council are denying all knowledge so we have to get a container brought in. It costs a FORTUNE. You'd think water was some kind of precious metal based on the pricing. Regarding speakers/volunteers, this is an event you're a participant at, not purely a viewer. We have an absurdly high ratio of speakers/attendees - a large number of ticket holders are related to the hackerspace movement where participation is expected. We are offering free day tickets to speakers, but nearly all of them are choosing to pay for a full ticket and spend the whole weekend at the event.