Belgian festival Tomorrowland sold 200,000 tickets in a record 18 minutes during its presale for Belgian visitors, beating last year’s 27-minute sellout.

The final batch of tickets for the electronic music extravaganza were snapped up in a matter of hours during last weekend’s global pre-sale.

Tomorrowland 2025 will welcome 400,000 ticket holders across two weekends to Boom, in the province of Antwerp, from 18–20 and 25–27 July.

The 2025 instalment will feature artists such as David Guetta, Charlotte De Witte, Armin Van Buuren, Martin Garrix, Netsky, and Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike.

Before heading to Boom, Tomorrowland will stop in Colombia for CORE Medellín in February, then in France for Tomorrowland Winter in Alpe d’Huez in March.

Tomorrowland isn’t the only festival that has reported sellout success for 2025; Wacken Open Air, Primavera Sound, Greenfield Fest and Electric Picnic have also seen tickets fly off the shelf.

Tickets for the 2025 edition of Electric Picnic, Ireland’s biggest music festival, sold out more than a year in advance without a single act being announced.

Green Man, the largest festival in Wales, sold out in a record 60 minutes and without a single act announced

General admission tickets, priced €290, were snapped up within hours. The Festival Republic-promoted festival also operates a loyalty scheme, offering discounted passes for previous attendees.

Electric Picnic will be held at Stradbally Hall in Stradbally, County Laois, from 29-31 August next year, reverting to its traditional late summer date.

Similarly, Green Man, the largest festival in Wales, sold out in a record 60 minutes and without a single act announced. Organisers say the 25,000-capacity, independently owned event is the first UK festival to sell out for 2025.

The festival is set to return to the Black Mountains in the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park in Wales from the 14–17 August with a programme that spans music, comedy, literature, film, performance and installation art, wellness and science.

Elsewhere, the 2025 edition of German heavy metal festival Wacken Open Air (WOA) sold out nine months in advance. The majority of the 85,000 tickets were snapped up days after the 4 August 2024 pre-sale, with the remainder shifted by 30 September.

The 34th edition will return to Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, between 30 July to 2 August 2025, with acts including Machine Head, Saltatio Mortis, Papa Roach, Gojira, Apocalyptica and more.

Primavera Sound Barcelona also enjoyed sellout success, having shifted all tickets to its 23rd edition five months in advance of the event.

All full festival passes and day tickets were snapped up within 67 days of going on sale for the 75,000-cap festival at Parc Del Fòrum.

Organisers believe the feat offers an endorsement of the 2025 bill, which is headlined by Charli XCX & Troye Sivan, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan from 5-7 June.

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Green Man, the largest festival in Wales, has sold out in a record 60 minutes and without a single act announced.

Organisers say the 25,000-capacity, independently owned event is the first UK festival to sell out for 2025.

Tickets for the 23rd edition of the festival went on sale at 10:00 on Saturday (28 September) and were sold out by 11:00.

Green Man was also the first UK festival to sell out for the 2024 season, which it did in just two hours without any line-up announced.

The festival is set to return to the Black Mountains in the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park in Wales from the 14–17 August 2025 with a programme that spans music, comedy, literature, film, performance and installation art, wellness and science.

Green Man was also the first UK festival to sell out for the 2024 season, which it did in just two hours without a line-up

“A huge diolch [thank you] – how wonderful you are!” says Fiona Stewart, owner and managing director of Green Man.

“Thank you, your support means the world to us. We are so excited about the plans for Green Man 2025, and we can’t wait to see your faces when you join us in the magical Black Mountains of Bannau Brycheiniog next August.”

Green Man has previously hosted performances from Fontaines DC, Michael Kiwanuka, Self Esteem, First Aid Kit and Kae Tempest across its ten stages.

The festival claims to be one of three remaining large independent festivals in the UK and the only large festival – independent or major – to refuse sponsorship.

The female-owned festival generates £10 million into the Welsh economy and boasts a Gold Charter by Attitude is Everything, a charity that improves accessibility for people with disabilities across the events industry.

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Australia’s Meredith Music Festival sold all 12,500 tickets to its 2024 edition in 30 seconds, organisers have announced.

The 32nd edition of the independent festival will take place at Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre in Victoria between 6–8 December.

Jamie xx, Waxahatchee, Genesis Owusu, Mk.gee, ZAPP, Angie McMahon, The Dare, Glass Beams, Fat White Family and Mannequin Pussy are among the acts confirmed to perform at the one-stage event.

Through a ballot system, the festival sells full weekend tickets only which cost AUS$488 (€299) and include camping and parking with “everyone flying first class, for three days and two nights”.

Last year’s Meredith Music Festival featured Caroline Polachek, Kraftwerk, Alvvays, Alex G, C.O.F.F.I.N., and more.

As a fully independent event with no commercial sponsors and ‘Bring Your Own’ drinks policy, organisers say Meredith Music Festival (MMF) is one of the only Australian festivals to run in this capacity.

Jamie xx, Waxahatchee, Genesis Owusu, Mk.gee, ZAPP, Angie McMahon are among the acts confirmed to perform at the event

The team behind Meredith also organises Golden Plains XVII festival, which takes place across two days at the same venue and has previously hosted acts including Bon Iver, Nile Rodgers, Pavement, Cat Power, Moodymann, Mulatu Astake, Tallest Man On Earth and George Clinton.

Also set to sell out is the last-ever Bluesfest, with organisers confirming the response from fans has been “nothing short of phenomenal”, while Beyond The Valley has shifted 85% of tickets within a few hours of the presale portal opening.

Positive news has been scarce in Australia’s beleaguered festival sector, which has been left in disarray following a flurry of cancellations.

Adelaide’s Harvest Rock is the latest Australian festival to pull the plug on its 2024 edition, following in the footsteps of other high-profile casualties such as Splendour in the Grass, Groovin The Moo, Coastal Jam, Summerground, Vintage Vibes, Tent Pole: A Musical Jamboree and ValleyWays.

In response, Australia’s House of Representatives has launched an inquiry into the struggling scene, and Blusfest’s Peter Noble stressed the need for government intervention.

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Dutch festival Paaspop sold 30,000 early-bird weekend tickets for its 2024 edition within 39 minutes.

The sale launched just 48 hours after Paaspop 2023 took place, with acts including Armin van Buuren, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes and George Ezra.

The super-early bird weekend tickets had a price tag of €179 this year and the early birds, €189.

With the 2023 early bird tickets selling out in four days, the festival’s organisers hailed the 2024 sale as “unprecedented”

With the 2023 early bird tickets selling out in four days, the festival’s organisers hailed the 2024 sale as “unprecedented”.

Paaspop (Easter Doll) will return to Schijndel on Easter weekend (29–31 March 2024), with acts yet to be announced.

This year’s event, promoted by the recently formed This Is Live, welcomed 105,000 visitors across three days and 300 acts performing on more than 17 stages.

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Austria’s Nova Rock is the latest festival to report a record sell-out, as the sector embarks on its first full season since 2019.

The event’s promoter, Nova Music Entertainment, says a total of 225,000 visitors are expected to attend the four-day festival in Nickelsdorf this June, which marks a new attendance record.

“We are so happy and proud,” says Nova Music Entertainment, which is part of CTS Eventim’s Barracuda Music.

After two consecutive cancellations, the annual hard rock event will return to Pannonia Fields between 9–12 June with acts including Muse, Placebo, Volbeat and Five Finger Death Punch.

Meanwhile, Germany’s Rock am Ring recently announced that a record 90,000 weekend tickets had sold for its 2022 edition, while twin festival Rock im Park shifted more than 70,000 tickets.

Both of the eventimpresents/DreamHaus’s events took place last weekend with acts including Green Day, Muse, Volbeat, Placebo, Måneskin.

Elsewhere, events such as Rock Werchter and Rock in Rio have sold out their typical allocation of tickets, but in record time.

“Event-goers are now spending up to three times more on their event trips than even pre-Covid levels”

Around 1 million people registered for the chance to buy tickets to Rock in Rio’s Brazil event, which runs over two weekends from 2–4 and 8–11 September and hosts 100,000 fans per day at the Cidade do Rock.

The 4 September date, starring Justin Bieber, was the fastest sell out at a record 12 minutes, followed by days headlined by Coldplay (27 minutes), Post Malone (59 minutes), Dua Lipa (64 minutes), Green Day (104 minutes) and Guns N’ Roses (285 minutes). The remaining 2 September date, topped by Iron Maiden, has also now sold out.

Rock Werchter, meanwhile, sold out months ahead of when it typically would, with 67,000 combi-tickets and four lots of 21,000 one-day tickets flying off the shelf by the beginning of February.

Elsewhere in LN Belgium’s stable of events, Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel was expanded from 50,000 capacity to 52,000 after most tickets sold out in early November.

Top promoters and ticketing firms including DEAG, Dice, Event Genius and The Ticket Factory have all confirmed the pent-up demand for events, saying that current ticket sales are even higher than pre-pandemic levels.

“Such is the demand for events and experiences – both domestically and abroad – event-goers are now spending up to three times more on their domestic and international event trips than even pre-Covid levels,” Event Genius’s CEO Benjamin Leaver told IQ.

Further evidencing a bumper festival season to come, an unprecedented number of new festivals are launching this year.

Promoters including FKP Scorpio, Goodlive, AEG, Goldenvoice and Live Nation have all added to their stable of festivals, as most prepare for their busiest festival season on record.

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Secret Garden Party 2022 has sold out in record time following an “overwhelming response” to the reunion event.

It was revealed late last month that SGP, hailed as one of the UK’s best-loved and most successful boutique festivals, would return after a five-year hiatus to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

Tickets for SGP 2022, which features an entirely secret line-up that will not announced in advance, went on sale on Sunday morning (26 September) and were all sold out within two hours.

It was reported that 70,000 fans applied for the 15,000 tickets available for next year’s festival.

Festival boss Freddie Fellowes commented: “We are thrilled and frankly totally blown away by the overwhelming response to the return of SGP and its 20th anniversary.

“The love and enthusiasm for going back to the Garden have taken our breath away”

“We thought that since closing our doors five years ago and then after such an isolating grim couple of years there might be some interest, but the love and enthusiasm for going back to the Garden have taken our breath away.”

Fellows added: “There’s clearly a need to bring like-minded people together who want to meet, play, create and rejoice. It is no longer a luxury we can take for granted. The joy shown on SGP’s social media since the announcement and the subsequent crazy shared stories reminds us of how A Serious Party has the capacity to create magic.

“I’d like to thank every single person who applied. Congratulations if you managed to get ticket, if not then don’t despair; SGP is about collaboration and we have kept back a fair few tickets for the most wonderful ideas that people want to bring to life in the Garden. Applications for this will open next month so get your thinking caps on… and join us next summer.”

Secret Garden Party has seen performances from the likes of Gorillaz, Florence + The Machine, Faithless, Lily Allen, Blondie and many more.

In 2017, founder Fellowes said “all good things must come to an end”, adding that they were working on a different festival to launch in the years ahead.

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Three of the UK’s most popular music festivals, Reading Festival, Creamfields and Boomtown, have sold out their 2021 editions in the past 24 hours, underlining the huge demand for festival tickets among locked-down British live music fans.

Festival Republic’s Reading Festival, which normally has a capacity of 105,000, was one of several festivals to confirm this week they intend to go ahead in 2021, taking place alongside its sister Leeds Festival in the last weekend in August.

All weekend tickets for Leeds Festival (75,000-cap.) are also gone, according to the festivals’ Twitter account, with only limited Friday and Sunday day tickets remaining.

Dance music festival Creamfields, promoted by Live Nation UK’s Cream Holdings, says it sold out in record time ahead of its return this summer. The festival, which has run since 1998 (since 2006 in its current location on the 70,000-capacity Daresbury estate in Cheshire), also takes place across the August bank holiday weekend (26–29 August).

That many fans held onto their 2020 tickets, says Cream, is “positive news for the live music industry, which has largely remained closed over the last 12 months. The news follows the prime minister’s ‘roadmap’ address on Monday that allows the safe return of large-scale outdoor events this summer.”

“This is positive news for the live music industry, which has largely remained closed over the last 12 months”

British prime minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday (22 February) that all lockdown measures should be lifted in England from 21 June, theoretically allowing large outdoor events such as festivals to take place with no restrictions. Industry response to the announcement was largely positive, though live music businesses and associations are seeking more clarity as to what will be possible.

Among the 300 artists and DJs performing at Creamfields 2021 are Bicep, Afrojack, Alesso, Carl Cox, Pete Tong, pendulum, Gorgon City, Sub Focus, Claptone, Sigma, Andy C, Martin Garrix, Sigma and Nina Kraviz.

Independent festival Boomtown, which typically has a capacity of more than 70,000, has scaled down its event for this year’s ‘Chapter One: The Gathering’-themed festival, which celebrates a “post-pandemic world” of “connection, community and celebration”. The line-up will also be kept secret until around a week before the festival.

Explaining the decision last year, organisers said: “[T]here are many aspects to the way the music industry runs that don’t work for independent festivals. The complex process of releasing a music line-up, with the exclusivity, billing and escalating costs ,has led us to decide this is the time to rethink the way we approach it and explore new ways of doing things.

“We have always been a creatively led festival and people attend Boomtown because of the overall experience.  We will continue to book incredible headline artists, and all the festival favourites, but by approaching our programming announcements in this radical way, we can create line-ups that are even more phenomenal and diverse than we have ever been able to before.”

“The anticipation to get back to showcasing the best in new music has never been greater”

Fans responded to the change, with over 90% of 2020 ticket holders declining a refund, and tickets for the 2021 edition, held as usual near Winchester in Hampshire, selling out last night.

Also riding the wave of fan demand is London’s Field Day, which announced just before 9pm yesterday (25 February) that it, too, had sold out its 2021 edition and second outing at the post-industrial Drumsheds venue in Enfield, north London.

Like its cancelled 2020 festival, Field Day 2021 will be a one-day, electronic music-focused event headlined by DJs Bicep. Other performers playing the Drumsheds, which has a capacity of 25,000, include Maribou State, Ross from Friends, Floating Points and Adelphi Music Factory.

https://twitter.com/fielddaylondon/status/1365040858198921216

The sellouts come as more festivals confirm they will be going ahead later this summer, with Liverpool Sound City, Gala Festival, Wilderness and Mighty Hoopla all announcing or re-confirming their 2021 dates in the wake of Johnson’s announcement.

“I can’t believe that it’s been nearly two years since the last time we came together at Sound City, and the anticipation to get back to showcasing the best in new music has never been greater,” says Sound City MD Becky Ayres. “Enjoying amazing new artists in incredible venues is what makes Sound City great, and we’re excited to bring together genre-pushing favourites, thrilling live bands and must-see moments this October.”

Sound City 2021 takes place from 1 to 3 October with artists including the Lathums, Rejjie Snow, the Mysterines, Red Rum Club and the Murder Capital.

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The 2021 edition of German metal festival Wacken Open Air (W:O:A) has sold out, with over 90% of 2020 ticketholders retaining their festival passes for next year.

Wacken, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2019, was due to take place this coming weekend (30 July–1 August), with a line-up of acts including Judas Priest, Amon Amarth and Mercyful Fate.

However, the festival was called off, as is the story for the majority of events this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A virtual edition of the event, Wacken World Wide, is taking place from 29 July to 1 August instead, with exclusive live performances from Blind Guardian, Heaven Shall Burn, In Extremo, Kreator and Beyond the Black.

Fans can buy souvenir tickets and festival ribbons to support the event and artists involved, as well as a range of new Wacken World Wide merchandise.

“We would like to express our deepest gratitude for the incredible support you are showing us in these tough times,” reads a post from the Wacken team, announcing the 2021 sell-out.

“We are humbled that over 90% of you have decided to exchange your W:O:A 2020 tickets for W:O:A 2021 with the remaining ones being sold this quickly”

“Said gratitude is deepened since we know that many of you have to deal with your own hardships such as dismissals, short-time work and scarce job opportunities.

“We are humbled by the fact that over 90% of you have decided to exchange your W:O:A 2020 tickets for W:O:A 2021 with the remaining ones being sold this quickly. You can be sure that we will give our very best to turn W:O:A 2021 into an unforgettable experience.”

The Wacken team also say they are “blown away” by the number of fans choosing to donate their tickets for others to use, instead of exchanging them or asking for a refund. These so-called Solidarity Tickets will be given out in the coming weeks.

The first bands for Wacken 2021 will be announced this Saturday, as per tradition.

W:O:A joins a number of large European festivals to announce swift sell-outs for next year, including Denmark’s Roskilde Festival and Primavera Sound in Spain.

Wacken World Wide will be available to watch live for free from 29 July to 1 August here, as well as on the Magenta Musik 360 website and app.

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Australia’s Splendour in the Grass festival celebrated its largest ever ticket sale today (27 February), with fans clearing out all 50,000 tickets under an hour.

The festival has sold four times as many tickets for its 20th edition than it did for its inaugural event in 2001. This year’s festival is the biggest ever, marking a 7,500 capacity increase from last year.

The Strokes, Flume and Tyler the Creator are heading up the festival from 24 to 26 July, which will also feature performances from Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Midnight Oil, Denzel Curry and more.

“The response to our 20th edition of Splendour in The Grass has been phenomenal,” says event producer Jessica Ducrou. “We know many people are doing it tough in our local communities at the moment and we’re grateful for the opportunity to bring people together in Byron through the uniting power of music.”

New South Wales is one of the regions most affected by the Australian bushfires, which have been raging through the country since September.

“We never would have thought when we produced our first edition of Splendour back in 2001 that it would resonate and mean so much to so many people 20 years later”

“We never would have thought when we produced our first edition of Splendour back in 2001 that it would resonate and mean so much to so many people 20 years later.”

Harley Evans, managing director of Splendour’s ticketing partner Moshtix, comments: “It’s been Moshtix’s great privilege to be involved in this wonderful event for so many years and the incredible demand for the 20th edition is a testament to the efforts of Jess, Paul, and their amazing team, and the love that the public has for Splendour.

“In difficult times, it will be wonderful to see 50,000 people come together in July to celebrate music and life.”

Moshtix, formerly the biggest independent ticketing service in Australia, was acquired by Ticketmaster in February last year.

Fans can sign up to the resale waiting list here.

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All 15 concert dates on the Japanese leg of K-pop band Twice’s current world tour have sold out, after over one million fans applied for tickets.

The nine-piece girl group have concert dates at the Makomanai Ice Arena in Hokkaido (10,000-cap.), Chiba’s Makuhari Event Hall (9,000-cap.), the Osaka Jo Hall (16,000-cap.), Miyagi’s Sekisui Heim Super Arena (7,000-cap.), Nagoya’s International Exhibition Hall (13,500-cap.), Marine Messe Fukuoka (13,000-cap.) and Shizuoka’s Ecopa Arena (10,000-cap.)

JYP Entertainment, the management company behind the band, announced two extra dates on Sunday (27 October) at the 55,000-capacity Tokyo Dome.  Twice will be the first K-pop girl group to play two consecutive concerts at the dome. The shows will take place on 3 and 4 march 2020.

Twice will be the first K-pop girl group to play two consecutive concerts at the Tokyo Dome

The concerts are part of the Twicelights 2019 world tour, which has seen the band play in Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Mexico, Malaysia and the United States.

According to IQ’s recent Japanese market report, Japan is the second largest music market in the world, behind the United States and ahead of Germany. The country’s live sector has reached unprecedented levels in recent years, generating ¥332 billion in 2017 (£2.4bn) and ¥345bn (£2.5bn) in 2018.

K-pop in particular has “made a big impression” in Japan, with Twice and other bands such as BTS and Blackpink recording and performing Japanese versions of their songs.

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