Ana asks, "why free tickets to performers friends?"

Most of the performers at festivals, apart from the main headliners, are not full-time professionals. That means after a week doing a "proper" job they are away playing at festivals, and for some that can mean most weekends throughout the summer. If they couldn't bring their families along they wouldn't see much of them, which would soon mean that they wouldn't be doing any festivals at all.

The fees that festivals can afford to pay aren't usually that much, and taking into account petrol, food etc probably wouldn't stretch to buying a ticket for one's partner. So additional tickets are usually an essential part of the package, which may include accommodation as well as tickets. It's understood that more of one means less of the other.

Also, performers will often do these events for little or even no cash fee, if it's an opportunity to gain exposure and sell albums. They are also huge fun to do. At somewhere like Sidmouth, being provided with accommodation (and a town-centre parking permit) can be as important as cash. But if a performer doesn't want these things, they can ask for more cash - it's understood there is a trade-off.