Dutch EDM boom as festivals triple ticket revenue

Revenue from ticket sales to Dutch dance music festivals tripled between 2011 and 2016, new research reveals.

According to Denis Doeland, a former ID&T exec and the founder of DDMCA (Denis Doeland Management Consultancy and Advisory), growth in visitor numbers and higher average ticket prices contributed to the value of sales topping €140 million in 2016, compared to €46m five years previous.

In addition to an almost doubling of visitors – from 1.6m to 2.9m – the number of major events has also grown two-fold, to 268, with around 80 smaller festivals.

After a period of tremendous growth, however, Doeland predicts the Netherlands’ electronic festivals are rapidly approaching a revenue “ceiling”. The total number of unique visitors will not increase in 2017, he says, and revenue from ticket sales “will remain at the same level as in 2016”.

Promoters’ association VNPF estimates a record 23 million people attended a music festival in the Netherlands in 2015 – 6m more festivalgoers than there are Dutch people. No data for 2016 is yet available.

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