Fields & Yields: Weighing up the 2024 festival season

In the last month, a raft of festivals have celebrated banner editions – from “the best Glastonbury yet” to yet another sold-out edition of Roskilde. But while the good times continue to roll for some event organisers, elsewhere a perfect storm shows signs of being upgraded to a potentially catastrophic hurricane as the cost-of-living crisis, escalating artist fees, increased production costs, competition from other tours and events, and, perhaps, a touch of fan apathy takes a toll on festivals – large and small – around the world.

April’s Coachella – for so long the darling of the North American landscape – experienced its slowest sales in decades, with reports estimating that up to 20% of the total inventory remained unsold. And that purchasing pattern appears to be one of the trends of 2024, with numerous festival chiefs reporting sleepless nights as they await activity from last-minute ticket-buyers. But for many, that nervous wait becomes too much to bear.

Historically one of the strongest festival markets in the world, the UK is experiencing an unprecedented period of flux, with more than 50 festivals already postponed, cancelled, or shut down in 2024, according to the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF).

Somebody saying, ‘I’m going to go, but I haven’t bought a ticket yet’ is no good to a festival organiser who’s got to pay a bill for a stage upfront

That growing crisis includes Towersey Festival, which having been launched in 1965 was the UK’s longest-running independent. Amid “increasing financial and economic challenges since the pandemic,” Towersey revealed that its upcoming August edition will be its last.

It joins a list from this year’s UK calendar that already includes NASS, Challenge, El Dorado, Pennfest, Connect Music, 110 Above, Leopollooza, Long Division, Bluedot, and Barn On The Farm. In almost all cases, organisers blame spiralling operational costs.

Responding to the situation, AIF chief exec John Rostron tells IQ that promoters have described the current climate as the most difficult they have ever seen. “It’s an incredibly challenging environment because they’ve got multiple things that have all come together at the same time,” says Rostron. While drilling down to precise reasons might take some months of analysis, there are obvious signs that the cost-of-living crisis is playing a significant role when it comes to the ticket-buying habits of consumers.

“The overall sales pattern is changing,” observes Rostron. “A lot of people might want, or intend, to go to a festival, but cost of living means they won’t buy their tickets as early as they used to. Somebody saying, ‘I’m going to go, but I haven’t bought a ticket yet’ is no good to a festival organiser who’s got to pay a bill for a stage upfront.”

Dilemmas involving younger generations are also adding to the mix, as many festival organisers are noting that alcohol consumption is lower among younger fans, while the allure of camping is waning among that same demographic.

“Most of the festivals in the country – maybe as many as 80% – are not making a penny anymore”

Ever creative, some event organisers are catering to the needs of those health-conscious customers by introducing wellness areas at their festivals, or in the case of Secret Garden Party, launching a dedicated wellness festival, Wild Meadows, which make its week-long debut from 5-11 August at the SGP site in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. The broader issues are not confined to the British Isles.

“In the post-pandemic world of costs, we have a problem with festivals in general,” says FKP Scorpio CEO Stephan Thanscheidt. “As a board member of the German Promoters Association, what I hear is that most of the festivals in the country – maybe as many as 80% – are not making a penny anymore.

“At the same time, they’re not showing their weakness because they don’t want to be a lame duck or a damaged brand. But for most of them, they’re not even breaking even, and when I talk to them, they’re waiting for a better tomorrow. But no-one has any idea where that is going to come from, or when.”

Indeed, one of the highest profile casualties is MELT, which announced in May that this year’s 11-13 July event would be the final edition due to “insurmountable changes in the festival landscape.” The 20,000-cap festival had been running since 1997.

With closures becoming an unwelcome trend, Thanscheidt says FKP Scorpio is nevertheless bucking the trend with the majority of its festival portfolio, while admitting that keeping festival brands financially viable is “very difficult.”

“Selling tickets to the very enthusiastic people who just had a great time at your festival is very important”

“In Germany, Southside is sold out, Hurricane is super close to sold out, M’era Luna and Deichbrand are doing very well,” he reports. ”Highfield is struggling a bit, but we managed to not have the level of problems others have right now.”

Also performing amazingly are Rock am Ring and Rock im Park, which Thanscheidt and his FKP Scorpio team now work on with fellow CTS Eventim-owned promoter, DreamHaus. Indeed, having announced Slipknot as one of next year’s headliners, Ring and Park 2025 sold out 50,000 tickets in the first day of presale following this year’s 6-8 June twin events – the best presale in its history.

Hurricane and Southside also enjoyed strong presales following their 2023 editions thanks to strong campaigns in the immediate aftermath of the festivals.

“Selling tickets to the very enthusiastic people who just had a great time at your festival is very important, but you have to sell the tickets right away, because if you wait a few months, then it’s much tougher to get all these people on board again. But with the enthusiasm and the great experience they had, they’re on fire to go next year again,” notes Thanscheidt.

That was certainly the experience at Wacken Open Air last year. Despite being forced to run the festival at a significantly reduced capacity because of the conditions caused by rain and thunderstorms, all 85,000 tickets for the 2024 edition were snapped up in just four-and-a-half hours in the day after the event – a new record for Wacken.

“The festival scene in Spain is vibrant and bustling with activity this year”

Elsewhere, the growing festival market in Spain is thriving, despite the challenges, according to Mad Cool principals Cindy Castillo and Javier Arnáiz. “The festival scene in Spain is vibrant and bustling with activity this year,” says Arnáiz. “While there have been a few logistical challenges and economic pressures, we’re also seeing a surge of new events and innovative concepts emerging. I would say the overall energy is very positive, with both organisers and attendees eager to have live music experiences.”

Ahead of the year’s 10-13 July festival, he reports, “Ticket sales for Mad Cool 2024 are performing well, on par with our expectations and previous years. We’ve seen robust demand, which reflects the anticipation and excitement surrounding this year’s lineup and the unique experiences we have planned.”

But Arnáiz notes that Spain is not immune from the pressures being experienced around the world by festival organisers.

“Rising costs across the board, coupled with the need to keep ticket prices accessible, have required us to be very strategic in our planning and resource allocation,” he says. “Our team is focused on finding efficiencies wherever possible without compromising the quality of the festival. To manage this, we are optimising our operations to maintain high standards without significantly raising ticket prices. This includes strategic partnerships and sponsorships that help offset costs, ensuring that we can continue to deliver a top-notch experience for our attendees.”

Although the 2024 European festival season is barely a month old, trends such as late ticket purchasing are being reported throughout the continent. However, while acknowledging the cost-of-living crisis, Thanscheidt believes such dilemmas can be market specific.

The Olympic Games (and Paralympics) in particular have impacted the summer calendar in France

“In Germany, the people who have decided they will go to the festival are spending like they always did,” he notes. “But if you go to Scandinavia, it’s different – they usually buy a lot later. So, it really depends on each market, but for Germany, the major part of our business, booking-wise and also selling the tickets, is done before Christmas for the following year. And then in springtime, you do your marketing and other creative activities to get the rest over the line.”

Playing games
While rising costs are crippling events across Europe, the situation has been complicated this year by two major sports gatherings requiring equipment that otherwise would be hired by festival organisers.

“Both the Olympics in Paris and the UEFA European Championships in Germany use a lot of infrastructure, meaning it’s been more difficult than usual to source everything that festivals need,” observes Holger Jan Schmidt, general secretary of Yourope, the European festivals association.

The Olympic Games (and Paralympics) in particular have impacted the summer calendar in France. Lollapalooza Paris will not happen this year after security restrictions rendered the event unfeasible: Lolla’s organisers had been restricted to a reduced capacity of 7,000 people. Live Nation France director Angelo Gopee comments, “We were advised to hold the festival on a single day to keep the Lollapalooza spirit alive in 2024 and not skip a year without a festival.” However, the promoter decided to shelve this year’s edition, with the festival set to return in July 2025.

And it’s not just Paris-based events that are affected, as nationally, many have had to reschedule their dates, such as Musilac in Aix-les-Bains, or even completely cancel their edition, like Montjoux Festival and Magnifique Society in Reims.

“The rise in production costs, audience attendance, and booking are the top concerns among our members”

Schmidt says that Yourope will discuss the season’s successes and failures at their next meeting in October – which coincidentally will be held in Paris – as well as the European Festival summit in Karlsruhe, Germany in November. But he says many of the trials facing him and his peers this year have been anticipated.

“If you look at the European Festival Report (EFR 2023) we published with IQ, when we asked our members about the challenges, they expected to face this year, they identified the rise in production costs, audience attendance, and booking as their top concerns,” says Schmidt.

Earth, wind & fire
One aspect of festival life organisers cannot count on is the weather, and with climate change seemingly setting new all-time records on a month-to-month basis, the 2024 season is proving problematic around the world.

The US festival, Lovers & Friends, was cancelled less than 15 hours before its gates were scheduled to open on 4 May, due to “dangerous weather.” Promoted by Live Nation, the one-day Las Vegas festival had a lineup including Usher, Backstreet Boys, Janet Jackson, and Alicia Keys. However, after advice from the National Weather Service, which warned of “gusts potentially more than 60mph,” the decision was taken to shelve the event.

Not so last minute but equally damaging, the team behind Sacramento’s Sol Blume cancelled the 3-5 May festival two weeks before it was set to take place because of the lasting effects from the torrential rain that drenched California in late February.

The grand finale of last year’s Burning Man had to be postponed twice after rainstorms

Also in May, the inaugural Gazebo Festival in Kentucky lost its second day of programming due to tornado warnings, while Sueños Music Festival in the neighbouring state of Illinois had to delay the start of its second day due to storms, later leading to an evacuation of the festival site.

On the same weekend, across the Atlantic, heavy rain at the Leeds leg of UK festival Slam Dunk forced organisers to warn fans with mobility issues to avoid attending.

Earlier in the year, the final night of Australia’s Pitch Music and Arts Festival was cancelled following an extreme fire danger warning. The Untitled Group-promoted camping event in Moyston, Victoria, was called off in advance of its scheduled 10 March finale.

And proving that not even desert-based gatherings can escape the ravages of climate change, the grand finale of last year’s Burning Man had to be postponed twice after rainstorms turned Nevada’s Black Rock location into a mud bath.

Strength in numbers
With his summer season well underway, Thanscheidt is enjoying a new collaboration with Dreamhouse that involves the Berlin-based business teaming up with Hamburg-based FKP in the Eventim Live network.

“We really need to be realistic on this, and we need to get production costs under control”

“We work together on all different levels. At the moment, the focus is on two areas: booking and production,” reveals Thanscheidt.

On the latter point, he states, “We all know how much the costs went up since the pandemic, but we need to get this under control because the main problem with festivals now is that the ticket prices for the first time are at their limit, but the costs are still going up. It’s a dead-end street if we do not find ways to create sustainable future models for festivals.

“Of course, you can always do better on food-and-beverage sales, merchandise, sponsorship deals, and up-sales like glamping and VIP packages. Those do bring in a lot of money, but it’s not a complete game changer – they’re not going to cover your costs. So, we really need to be realistic on this, and we need to get production costs under control.”

However, Thanscheidt dismisses notions that many festivals will simply die if the various challenges facing the sector are not addressed.

“If you are also a tour promoter, you need to serve your bands with festival slots, so being involved in festivals is crucial,” he says. “I can’t do what other events have done by reducing the number of stages at Hurricane and Southside. In fact, it’s the opposite: ideally, I would need one more stage, to be very honest, to put all the content of the acts we’re putting on tour. Ultimately, our festival platforms are one of the main tool to get new talent assigned to our company for different markets.”

“The time of the great growth of festivals is over. It has become a fight-and-survive market”

Taxing issues
In response to the developing crisis in the UK, the AIF has launched a campaign called Five Percent For Festivals, which encourages fans to lobby politicians for a VAT reduction on tickets from 20% to 5%.

“The CMS inquiry into grassroots music venues made a recommendation to look at the modelling of VAT in [grassroots venues], and the conversation has widened to say that should include festivals,” Rostron says. “I think there will be intervention. My concern is that by the time something does happen, how many [festivals] will have gone?”

Meanwhile, the Dutch industry is following a similar path, as industry professionals there are also campaigning for their government to reconsider plans for 2026 that will see VAT rise from 9% to 21% for concert and festival tickets.

Whatever the outcome of their lobbying, it comes too late for Mañana Mañana, which announced that its tenth edition would be the last because ticket sales were not good enough to make the event profitable. The festival bade farewell following its 13-16 June finale in Achterhoek.

And it appears that the Dutch indie scene is also enduring a tough year, as at least 60 festivals with over 3,000 attendees have been cancelled in 2024, according to event researcher Lex Kruijver of Respons Evenementen, who told newspaper Algemeen Dagblad that only 30 new festivals have been launched this year so far.

“The time of the great growth of festivals is over. It has become a fight-and-survive market,” says Kruijver.

“Stay strong, but especially stay creative, because you have to cope with a world full of problems at the moment”

Silver linings
Fortunately, it’s not all bad news everywhere in the festival world. Swiss new music showcase Radar recently announced that its sixth edition will see it expanding into new locations, while adding an extra day to the programme. The Gadget Entertainment-promoted event will return to Langstrasse Zurich in September, showcasing 25 acts across eight venues – Frame, Gonzo, Zukunft, Bar 3000, Alte Kaserne, Waxy Bar, Plaza, and Longstreet Bar.

On a larger scale, Madrid’s Mad Cool also has an additional day of programming this year, amongst a raft of changes aimed to improve the visitor experience.

“Adding an extra day and decreasing the number of stages has been particularly well-received,” says Arnáiz. “The new site layout has also been designed to enhance the overall experience, making navigation easier and improving accessibility.”

Emphasising the importance of maintaining a dialogue with the fans, Mad Cool colleague Cindy Castillo adds, “We have communicated these changes effectively through a multi-channel approach via our website, social media, and email newsletters. We also use video content. Additionally, our customer service team is always available to answer any questions, ensuring that fans feel informed and excited.”

Weathering the storm
With his remit including the oversight of more than 20 FKP Scorpio-owned festivals, Thanscheidt is urging his peers around Europe to keep the faith.

“Stay strong, but especially stay creative, because you have to cope with a world full of problems at the moment,” he says. “Also, think about your setup. Do you really need everything? Or is it better to cut something out to invest in something else?”

“Although Yourope is the biggest association for music festivals in Europe, it cannot master this challenge alone”

Schmidt highlights the need for more communication and sharing of information among the continent’s festival community, as a gateway to developing a healthier industry. He points to Yourope’s EU-funded Future-Fit Festivals (3F) as a resource for everyone looking for solutions to make the festival season sustainable long-term. The resource features numerous roadmaps, tool-kits, best practises, action plans, and reports.

“3F seeks to address three key questions: What does the responsible festival of the future look like, and how do we achieve that? What makes European festivals resilient to meet the challenges of the future? And how do tomorrow’s festivals ensure that they continue to play a relevant role in popular culture and the lives of millions of young people?” says Schmidt.

“Although Yourope is the biggest association for music festivals in Europe, it cannot master this challenge alone. So, to include the entire industry in the process, we are establishing systematic dialogue structures to encourage exchange between creative industry professionals, audiences, artists, as well as public and private decision makers.”

During the three years of the project, the association has conducted several pan-European surveys to gather information on the sector in general and on the 3F focus topics in particular. “We need as many events as possible to contribute to 3F. The outcome will hopefully provide everyone with information, tools, and structure that will ensure that the festival business will grow and thrive in the decades ahead of us,” says Schmidt.

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