The fickle, frugal, fun-chasing festivalgoers of 2023

They’re all in. Then they’re not. They’re smashing the Buy button. They’re on the fence. They’re texting their friends, rallying the crew, all the while you’re madly bringing the experience together for them in the background hoping ticket sales line up. They’re unpredictable and behaving in ways you’ve never seen before. Meet your customer — the fickle, frugal, fun-chasing summer festival punters of 2023.

Tegan, 26, is the dream: “If I see an event and I know I want to go, I don’t see the point in waiting closer to the date. The ticket price isn’t going to change. If anything, it’s cheaper if I buy early. So why wouldn’t you buy them early if you want to go?” Tegan is someone that makes up her mind, buys early, and commits. Her decision might be driven by early bird pricing or FOMO, but for festivals that aren’t instant sell-outs, she represents the seemingly elusive buyer we all want more of. “I think I buy more tickets now, because we didn’t get to do anything during COVID and now I just want to do all the things.”

Heightened online shopping and relaxed return/cancellation policies during the peak of Covid saw a new breed of buyers emerge and live events were not immune to consumers demanding flexibility in their purchases. For example, Justin (aptly named) grabs a ticket “just in case”: “I just get them and hope I can go. If I see a festival I want to go to I’ll buy the ticket then and there whether I know who I’m going with or not, and figure out the rest later.” The social factor is strong with the Justins and at 28, he’s probably got the disposable income to float a festival ticket or two that he may end up selling later.

Justin is worth appealing to as he buys early and may end up convincing friends to join him. Tixel data from last year’s season showed that 84% of eventgoers are more likely to purchase tickets knowing they can easily resell them later, so there may be more Justins out there than you think. He’s also a buyer you have to keep engaged in the leadup — the more you amp him up the more likely he’ll want to go, so up the hype and get him through the door.

Who the hell buys a ticket to a camping festival two days out? Jarmyn does. The chief procrastinator in your life (or yes, it could be Anika, but at least she’s got a plan). “I forget that things are on and then I’ll get a message from someone saying ‘Hey, you coming this weekend’ and I’ll be like Aw, mate, I’ll sort myself a ticket.” And yes, you’ve probably spent a fortune on social media to ensure Jarmyn knew your festival was happening, ughhh.

There’s been a shift and the most successful promoters know this and are already appealing to these new buying styles

Next is Anika. She’s like a modern-day City trader dealing in tickets, watching forums and tapping her intuition to figure out when to buy to get the best price. “I used to be an early bird but with the constant changes during the pandemic, I tend to buy tickets at the last minute. If I think a show will sell out I’ll buy early, but if I’m not that stressed about it I’ll buy right before to hopefully get them cheaper.”

Anika knows there are always people that change plans and need to sell and that sometimes some of those tickets sell below face value. So she plans to go and strikes at the right moment. Thankfully this style of decision-making cues anxiety for most of us so while she’s the minority, releasing a handful of tickets at a very slightly lower price (Tixel can help you do this) can help give you a sense of how many Anikas you have watching your tickets and whether selling just a few dollars cheaper might scoop up those more price-sensitive buyers.

And last but not least, there’s the ticket mama. The cat herder. The person in the group who’s ON IT, getting everyone committed ahead of time, buying the tickets and getting the ££ from everyone. Adrien, 30: “I’m the ticket mama! The one who puts the event in my calendar and sets an alarm for when tickets go on sale. I’m the group chat initiator. I plan the pre-party. I get in early, get everyone on board, and secure tickets.” She’s but one email address but she can represent the personas of another 4, 5, 6 buyers.

So how does Tixel know so much about these fine festies and how to reach them? We watch them every day listing tickets for sale and pre-authorising their credit cards to auto-buy tickets as they’re listed. We routinely ask them why they’re selling, why they’re buying the way they’re buying, and we run all of that through the mass of ticket buyer data we have across thousands of festivals worldwide. There’s been a shift and the most successful promoters know this and are already appealing to these new buying styles. You can check out a free report we did last year on ticketing trends.

Whether your festival is full of Tegans, Justins, or Adriens, we’re wishing our festival partners successful, crowd-filled fields, ticket sales that surpass the budget, and a recovery year that we’ve all worked so hard to deserve.

 

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