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US festival offers refunds for extremely hot days

US festival Hinterland has introduced a 90 Degree Guarantee which allows ticket holders the option to request festival admission ticket returns for any day that is predicted to reach 90° (32C) or higher.

Last year, the Iowa-based festival came under fire for a lack of water during the peak of the state’s hottest temperatures, which typically reach over 100°F.

With an “extreme heat belt” emerging in the centre of the country – stretching from Texas to Iowa – these states will reportedly experience days that feel like 125°F at least once a year by 2053.

“As global temperatures continue to rise every year, Hinterland is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of our attendees,” reads a statement from the organisers.

“For Hinterland 2025, we’re offering a 90 Degree Guarantee. If the weather reaches 90º or above on any of the three days of Hinterland 2025, you have the opportunity to request a ticket return for each day the forecast is 90º or higher.”

Organisers of the festival, which takes place between 1–3 August in Saint Charles, explained how the refund process works.

“If on 29 July at 10am CT, the weather.gov forecast for 1, 2 or 3 August has a true temperature of 90° or higher for the 50240 zip code, ticket purchasers will have the option to request a return of their festival admission ticket for that day.

“Return requests are only available for the day/s the forecast is 90° or higher. Three-day ticket holders can request a return for specific day/s at a rate of 1/3 of the total three-day ticket price.

“As global temperatures continue to rise every year, Hinterland is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of our attendees”

“To qualify for a return, ticket holders must fill out the 90° Guarantee Ticket Return Request Form prior to 1pm CT on Tuesday 7/29 and returns will be processed within as little as 10 days. The policy only applies to festival admission tickets and does not include camping, parking, or shuttle tickets.”

The news comes as festival organisers around the world grapple with the impacts of extreme weather on their events, including adverse weather insurance.

Speaking to IQ, leading insurance broker Martin Goebbels at Miller Insurance says that a policy like Hinterland’s 90-Degree Guarantee would not necessarily be covered.

“Adverse weather insurance has always been available and is often purchased, although only relates to weather making it too dangerous for the event (or perhaps part of it) to proceed as decided by local authorities in conjunction with production heads – this can include excessive heat as well as storms etc,” he explains. “However, it would only apply when it is deemed too dangerous rather than refunds at a specific temperature.”

Jeff Torda, from US-based insurance broker Higginbotham, adds: “I could see two potential ways for a client to cover this exposure. They can share this ticket refund policy with the insurers from the onset and try to get the standard event cancellation insurers to agree to cover their lost revenues for any ‘returned/refunded tickets’ should the temperature get over 90 degrees. But I would say that 90 degrees is a fairly low US summer temperature for underwriters to get comfortable covering, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the standard event cancellation markets declined to cover this.

“If the standard event cancellation underwriters declined to offer cover at this low of a temperature threshold, then the likely other solution would be through a Parametric Weather Policy. In the parametric insurance market, the client can would simply set a ‘policy trigger’ of “If the temperature hits 90 degrees on dates x,y,z, then Insurers will pay insured $xxx”. This policy can often be quite expensive, but it is very straightforward from a claims-handling perspective. If the temperature hits 90 degrees in that city, on the day of any of the insured events, then there would be a flat agreed payment made to the insured client to help cover any ticket refund costs, lost revenues, etc.”

Hinterland’s 90 Degree Guarantee is part of the festival’s wider efforts to improve the festival for 2025 after last year’s criticisms, including backlash about overcrowding.

“We heard your feedback and have made it our mission to improve your Hinterland experience in 2025,” reads a statement from the festival. “To start, the Hinterland Main Stage is moving to a bigger space within the festival grounds. Our new amphitheatre will have an expanded footprint with more space to spread out, more trees and shade structures, and better water access. We’ve also got a number of other changes in the works to improve the attendee experience, which we’ll share soon.”

The festival has also implemented a new ‘Free Look’ return policy for 2025, whereby if VIP & Saints ticket holders aren’t satisfied with the premium amenities, they can return their ticket up to one hour after entering.

Hinterland 2025 is headlined by Tyler, The Creator, Lana Del Rey and Kacey Musgraves, with additional acts including Clairo, The Marías, Bleachers, Remi Wolf, Sierra Ferrell, Still Woozy, Royel Otis, Wyatt Flores, Role Model and more.

 


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Indie fests fear financial impact of severe weather

Organisers from Pohoda Festival (SK), Art Rock (FR) and InMusic (HR) have discussed the perils of maintaining independent festivals in the current climate.

“Unexpected things happen all the time,” Ivana Jelača, programming director for InMusic, told delegates at the recent SHIP conference in Croatia.

“No one predicted the pandemic. No one predicted a war in Europe in the 21st century. Organising a festival is a year-long job and things can dramatically change in that time. There are a lot of factors at play such as political factors, social factors, health and safety factors, weather factors and climate factors. There are a lot more dangers that have appeared in recent years.”

A primary danger for these organisers is inclement weather, as well as the resulting hike in insurance premiums.

Pohoda booking manager Barbora Bodnárová discussed the most recent edition of the three-day festival in July, which was curtailed after a thunderstorm caused a large tent stage to collapse and injure 29 people.

“Weather is getting more and more severe and you never know what is going to happen”

“I have never experienced such a storm [as the one this year] and we have storms at the festival almost every year and ways to deal with them,” said Bodnárová. “But we were in a situation where you couldn’t do anything. The policy we have in place wasn’t applicable for 20 minutes because you just had to take care of yourself and the people around you.”

“Weather is getting more and more severe and you never know what is going to happen. We just need to make sure we prepare ourselves the best we can in advance and assess it year by year.”

Though the Slovakian festival doesn’t have insurance for cancellation or inclement weather, it does have some cover.

“We have materials and structures insurance,” said Bodnárová. “Fortunately, we had a really good policy that was not that expensive… though I don’t think it’s going to be [that cheap] anymore.”

InMusic’s Jelača says she’s seen insurance fees for inclement weather “go through the roof” in recent years and points out that it’s a “security issue as well as a very big financial issue”.

“Insurance companies say that they will stop covering climate-related events because it’s becoming systematic and it’s not economically viable for them”

Carol Meyer, director of the French non-profit festival Art Rock, reiterates the point, adding that the cost of a severe weather event could end the long-running festival.

“Insurance is a huge issue in France,” she said. “Now, we hear from the insurance companies that they will stop covering climate-related events because it’s becoming systematic and it’s not economically viable for them. This is a real danger because if what happens at Pohoda happens and you’re not covered, you can kill a festival that is 42 years old.”

Bodnárová says that Pohoda is still weighing up the financial impact of the cancelled 2024 festival.

“It’s a slow process,” she said. “Many people are waiting for their money. We haven’t yet made a decision on whether to return a portion of the admission fee to those who would ask. We paid most of the artists their full fees, though some were able to settle for lower fees.”

Even without severe weather events and unaffordable insurance premiums, festivals are still struggling to balance the books.

“We are an independent festival and we’d like to stay independent”

“We almost never break even and we still need to find the ground after Covid,” says Bodnárová. “Finances are the number one concern for us as we are an independent festival and we’d like to stay independent. Plus, we need to attract younger generations so we can’t just keep raising the ticket prices.”

Meyer says that since Covid, Art Rock has to sell out to break even, and that finances are exacerbated by the concentration of major companies in France.

“Live Nation or AEG have relationships with the big artists and own the venues, the ticketing, and now they own festivals,” she said. “They can afford to lose money because the festival is a showcase.”

Croatia’s InMusic has also had its fair share of financial difficulties, some of which caused organisers to pull the plug on the 2023 edition.

Looking to the future, Jelača urged live music fans to support homegrown events and venues.

“Stick by your smaller events,” she said. “Stick by your local pubs. Stick by these grassroots movements because they do, in turn, give you bigger festivals or bigger events that will gather momentum.”

 


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Electric Castle turns 10: ‘This is just the beginning’

Electric Castle organisers have hailed a “crazy but beautiful” 10th-anniversary edition.

The Romanian festival returned to the 15th-century Banffy Castle in Transylvania between 17 and 21 July, with more than 200 artists.

Massive Attack, Bring Me the Horizon, Chase & Status, Sean Paul, Paolo Nutini and Khruangbin helped to draw an average 50,000 daily attendees (with a peak of 68,000 on Saturday) – a 20% increase from last year’s edition and a new record for the festival.

While this year’s edition was a triumph by all accounts, Electric Castle’s Renate Rozenberg says it was also “one of the most difficult editions to handle”.

“It was crazy from all points of view,” she tells IQ. “It was full of challenges – and new challenges.”

“The global IT outage turned us upside down”

One of those novelties was the global IT outage on Friday that grounded flights and caused a raft of artists to miss their scheduled sets at the festival.

Fourteen acts, including Sleaford Mods, Hospitality Night and Sasha, were absent from Electric Castle due to the faulty security update that caused 8.5 million Microsoft Windows computers to crash.

“It turned us upside down,” Rozenberg admits. “Everyone tried really hard to solve an unsolvable situation… you couldn’t book a new flight or even open airlines’ websites but the artists were so patient and some even waited in the airport for 12 hours or so. It was amazing how hard they tried to attend the festival.”

Mercurial weather was also a challenge for the festival, with high temperatures, storms and rain on rotation during the first few days.

But, as Rozenberg points out, it’s a hurdle that organisers have been clearing since the very first edition of Electric Castle, which was hit with record rainfall for Romania.

“We should help artists who are really good to ‘get there’… that’s what Electric Castle is about”

“We have a tradition with rain,” laughs Rozenberg. “We are the most prepared festival in Romania for that kind of weather – we know how to handle things – and what I love is that [attendees] have also learned how to handle it. We’ve changed the mentality of what rain means at a festival… it can be fun!”

Alongside the rain, the festival has become renowned for its “full-time experience” with five of the 10 stages operating a non-stop schedule.

The festival also offers a wide range of activities including sports, cinema and standup shows at the newly opened comedy club.

“Music and dancing are important but you can’t do it 24 hours a day,” says Rozenberg. “It’s a challenge to programme all day and all night but fortunately our community is curious and they have a huge appetite to discover what we suggest.”

This attitude among attendees allows the festival to be more adventurous with its artist bookings, and dedicate space on the programme to emerging and domestic talent.

“We always wanted to be a festival open for people from all walks of life”

“For example, we booked IDLES five or six years ago when they weren’t yet a name, and we really loved them so we put them on one of our most important stages and a month ago they played Glastonbury,” says Rozenberg.

“We should help artists who are really good to ‘get there’. We are doing that for the international market but also for the Romanian market. That is what Electric Castle is about.”

Another mission for the festival’s organisers is to maintain the affordability of the festival.

“We always wanted to be a festival open for people from all walks of life,” explains Rozenberg. “We want to be accessible. If you want to be the king of the castle, there’s fine dining and luxury camping. If you want to attend the festival with a low budget, there’s a supermarket on site and low rates for camping. We’re a festival that wants to focus on comfort for our attendees.”

“We strive to make the next edition better than the previous one”

Rozenberg says it’s thanks to “a lot” of partners and sponsors that costs are kept down for the fans and the festival.

“They invest a lot in Electric Castle, not just financially, but in terms of the experience,” she adds. “We are lucky that they bring games and entertainment too.”

With 10 successful editions under Electric Castle’s belt, organisers are only more ambitious to grow the festival.

“Ten years is just the beginning,” says Rozenberg. “We strive to make the next edition better than the previous one. A festival mirrors the people who are creating it. We are curious people and we don’t settle. And if we want more, people will get more.”

 


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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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Creativeman on Summer Sonic’s triumphant sell-out

Creativeman’s Naoki Shimizu and Layli Odamura have spoken to IQ about how they’ve triumphed over a myriad of challenges in the Japanese industry to sell out Summer Sonic 2024.

The flagship festival will return to its longstanding locations, Tokyo’s Zozomarine Stadium and and Osaka’s Maishima Sonic Park, between 17 and 18 August.

Bring Me The Horizon, Måneskin, Christina Aguilera, Greta Van Fleet, Major Lazer, Lil Yachty, Belle & Sebastien, Bleachers, Madison Beer, Oliva Dean, PinkPantheress and more are due to perform at the twin events.

Here, the Creativeman executives tell IQ how this year’s festival has prospered over the headliner drought, the weak yen, rising costs and extreme weather…

How are the Summer Sonic dates in Tokyo and Osaka selling?
Naoki Shimizu (NS): We’ve sold out Tokyo and Osaka, which comes to 220,000 tickets. If Sonicmania on Friday sells out at 30,000, that would come to 250,000 total.

Summer Sonic 2024 is headlined by Maneskin and Bring Me The Horizon, two bands that haven’t yet headlined many festivals. What’s your thinking behind that decision?
NS: In the past, these two bands have played in Japan at Summer Sonic, headline tours etc which were all very successful due to their strength locally. This year many festivals across the world struggled to book headliners but for I believe in developing and growing artists into headliners and these two artists are prime example of this.

Layli Odamura (LO): After the pandemic had gradually calmed down, we have been lucky to have many incredible artists committed to play in Japan at the return of Summer Sonic in 2022. The fans were so ready and hungry for it and this included a new generation of them.

Maneskin’s first-ever show in Japan was at that Summer Sonic in 2022 and it was an instant, magnetic love, perfect match for Japanese audience to feel connected. Bring Me The Horizon (BMTH) had cleverly built their career and fan base in Japan gradually to the level where they even held their own festival called NEX_FEST in Tokyo, which sold out at approximately 20,000 people. This is a big achievement for this genre of artist as it has never been done before here and all due to BMTH’s exquisite artistry.

“Many festivals across the world struggled to book headliners but for I believe in developing and growing artists”

How have fans responded to these choices?
NS: Very well. The majority of our audience were seeking for a fresh act to be chosen, and a rock band in particular. One of the factors would be due to Summer Sonic audience becoming younger post pandemic.

What kind of impact is the weak yen having on booking, especially when it comes to big international artists?
NS: This is a big damage. The countermeasure we have put in place to survive the weak yen is to decrease the number of offers to those artists requiring fees in USD$ or GBP£, while increasing domestic and Asian artists to play instead. And this has proved that the festival can sell out even without the appearance of expensive acts.

LO: With the current exchange rate, as you can imagine we are paying approx. x1.6 or even more than a few years ago. This is a big problem because even when we are technically paying more in yen, from artist’s point of view in USD, the fee is still low.
Also touring costs overall such as airfare, freight, production costs etc has increased globally in the recent years so this is a double knockout situation for us.

Does this mean future lineups won’t be so Anglo-centric?
NS: I will stick to international music at the forefront. In Japan there are countless number of festivals with just domestic artists and K-pop. If that differentiation from these festivals disappears, the uniqueness and individuality will be lost. This year at Summer Sonic there are approximately 40 international artists and this ratio feels right.

“To survive the weak yen, [we have to] decrease the number of offers to those artists requiring fees in USD$ or GBP£”

There’s a trend of Asian festivals linking up and making offers together, are you doing this with your stable of festivals?
NS: Summer Sonic Bangkok starting this year is an example of this. I do hope to broaden to wider Asian territories and make offers together in the future.

LO: Summer Sonic brand has a strong presence in Asia so that always helps for us to connect with other Asian festival promoters too.

Are there upsides to the weak yen? Does it mean more tourists are visiting your festivals?
NS: Disadvantage is much bigger. However yes, inbound tourists attendance have increased and likely to reach to about 10%. If we broaden the sales network wider in the future then we could even reach to about 25% .

LO: Recent inbound tourism has strongly impacted Japan’s economy. Recently I have read a report that inbound travellers spent Y1.8 trillion in the first three months of 2024 in Japan, which is the highest figure on record. At our festivals and shows too we definitely see a lot more attendees from abroad, and are also noticing that shows such as overseas comedy acts etc are now not only promoted but sell well. This is a fairly new phenomenon because these shows are all in English, but it seems to be working as demand is there by increase of inbound tourists, ex-pats and those locals who returned from living abroad.

How much are prices rising in Japan, for things like infrastructure, artist fees, staffing etc?
NS: They have increased by about 120-150%. Aside from increasing the ticket price, it would become necessary to consider various strategies to cut down the costs such as decreasing the number of acts, number of stages etc.

“Prices in Japan have increased by about 120-150%”

Extreme heat is becoming a major challenge for summer festivals in Japan. How are you planning to mitigate that for your attendees?
NS: The Japanese summer is becoming increasing hot so for those areas such as merchandise, lockers etc where a long line is expected, we have now expanded indoor facilities to a even bigger capacity. Water supply area and first aid/medical areas have been expanded too.

Are you able to attract new and young audiences to your festivals?
NS: The well balanced line-up between the Western acts, domestic acts and Asian acts have attracted new and younger audiences. Research showed that in 2022 after the pandemic, 75% of the audience that year were attending Summer Sonic for the first time ever.

Creativeman organises a number of genre-specific festivals, how do they sell compare to your more eclectic events?
NS: When a festival is genre-specific, overall capacity does decrease compared to Summer Sonic but they still do have strong attendance. In addition to Summer Sonic and Sonicmania, Creativeman also holds multiple international music festivals such as GMO Sonic, Punkspring, Loudpark, Green Room, Blue Note Jazz, Coke Studio, Rockin’ On Sonic etc, and we are very proud to be the promoter most passionate about spreading International and Western music culture which we put so much effort in building, maintaining and strengthening locally.

LO: Creativeman is a pioneer in presenting genre-specific festivals. Our first one was nearly 20 years ago now. We do move fluidly based on demand so although some are long-running, each time gives out a freshness about it with dynamic tweaks and changes to it. Japanese fans are committed to their artists so in that sense a genre-specific festival does work well and is a great platform for many bands to gain new fanbase.

 


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Austria’s Electric Love curtailed due to weather

Austrian festival Electric Love was forced to shut down for half a day due to the threat of severe weather.

The 70,000-capacity event in Salzburg was scheduled for 4–6 July but its final day was hampered due to forecasted strong winds, heavy rain, and lightning.

Organisers announced at 10:30 on Saturday (6 July) that the festival grounds were expected to open at 20:00, which meant the day’s programming was slashed in half.

Camping guests were advised to “secure their tents” by 16:00 and “seek shelter in a vehicle” while others were asked to refrain from heading towards the venue until clearance was given.

At 20:00, organisers put out a statement saying: “The predicted storm front barely touched the area, but strong winds were still measured in the infield. Therefore, a structural inspection must be conducted before opening.”

“The predicted storm front barely touched the area”

The festival site reopened at 20:45 with a revised programme that ran until the early hours of the morning and included Mau P, Meduza, ELF24 Relive, John Newman, DJ Snake and Toby Romeo.

At the time of writing, Electric Love, which is owned by CTS Eventim-backed Barracuda Music, has not offered refunds to customers.

Electric Love joins a long list of events that have either been cut short or cancelled due to severe weather.

Gazebo Festival, Sueños Music Festival, Lovers & Friends, Slam Dunk Festival and Sol Blume are among the victims, with the US market being hit the worst.

In the US, adverse weather coverage has “increased significantly” in the last five years, according to Jeff Torda from Higginbotham. Backing this point, a recent Billboard article claimed premiums in North America had tripled in recent years.

The latest edition of ILMC also saw industry leaders discussing ways to cope with the impact of weather on festivals and open-air live music events.

 


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Belgium’s Graspop activates emergency weather plan

Belgium’s Graspop Metal Meeting has activated its emergency weather plan after the festival site was hit by torrential rain ahead of the event.

Taking place in Dessel, the 55,000-cap heavy metal festival is scheduled to start tomorrow (20 June) and run until Sunday. The four-day festival will be headlined by Tool, Alice Cooper, Five Finger Death Punch, Judas Priest, Bring Me The Horizon, Avenged Sevenfold, Scorpions and Machine Head.

However, organisers have cancelled their entire Wednesday evening programme, including the pre-party, and closed the onsite car parks. They say they are continuing to “closely monitoring the situation”, but are confident the festival proper will go ahead as planned.

“Fortunately, the weather forecast for tomorrow is better, so let’s stay positive,” says a statement. “The programming of the other festival days is not at risk. The organisation of Graspop Metal Meeting is ready to give it all for four days. We thank everyone for their understanding in this unpredictable situation.”

For people who are absolutely required to stay overnight on Wednesday, emergency accommodation will be provided

Car parking will not be available today (19 June), with those who need to spend the night at the campsite advised to travel to the venue via public transport.

“For people who are absolutely required to stay overnight on Wednesday, emergency accommodation will be provided,” adds a message from promoters.

Held over five stages, other acts on the bill include Deep Purple, Megadeth, Babymetal, Limp Bizkit, Architects, Turnstile, Bruce Dickinson, Electric Callboy, Pendulum and Corey Taylor.

Past headliners at Graspop, which launched in 1996, include Guns N’ Roses, Iron Maiden, Slipknot, KISS, Black Sabbath, Rammstein, Motörhead, Mötley Crüe, Korn and System Of A Down.

 


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Three major festivals hampered by severe weather

Gazebo Festival, Sueños Music Festival and Slam Dunk Festival were impacted by severe weather over the weekend.

Rapper Jack Harlow launched his inaugural Gazebo festival at the weekend (25-26 May), in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

However, the second day of the event was called off after parts of the city were put on tornado watch until late afternoon on Sunday (26 May).

The National Weather Service also warned of wind that could reach up to 75 mph and scattered hail up to two inches in size.

“Well. We have to cancel day two of Gazebo,” Harlow wrote on social media. “We are currently on a tornado watch. I know things cleared up a little bit, but the bad weather has damaged the site and there’s more storms and dangerous winds on the way. This means everyone on Day 2, including myself, won’t be performing anymore. I’m trying to focus on the positive because all I felt was happiness yesterday. I’m grateful for our flawless first day and for the way this city came together. Thank you so much. I’m sorry.”

SZA, Vince Staples and James Blake were among that artists that performed at Gazebo festival on its opening day.

Harlow was supposed to headline the festival’s second day, which was also due to feature performances from the likes of PinkPantheress, Amaraee and Omar Apollo.

Sunday ticket holders will receive a full refund, while weekend pass ticket holders will be refunded 50%. All refunds will be issued within 30 days, according to a statement from Gazebo festival.

In the neighbouring state of Illinois, Sueños Music Festival was also having problems with inclement weather on its second day.

The Latin music festival was scheduled to take place across two days in Grant Park, Chicago. However, the opening of day two was postponed until 4 pm due to severe weather, prompting organisers to reshuffle the lineup.

“While the event is going ahead, we cannot guarantee access customers the experience that we had hoped”

At 7:45 pm, just before Peso Pluma’s headline set, attendees were asked to evacuate the site due to incoming storms.

The festival’s opening day featured performances by Xavi, Ivan Cornejo, Young Miko, Bizarrap and Rauw Alejandro. This year, Sueños’s third, was sold out for the first time with 65,000 attendees each day.

Also yesterday, UK festival Slam Dunk released an emergency weather update ahead of its Leeds leg, after heavy rainfall at the Temple Newsam site.

The rock, pop-punk and emo festival wrote before 10 am: “Having assessed the ground conditions for Slam Dunk North, we are sorry to inform you that due to the weather, the ground is in bad condition.

“While the event is going ahead, we cannot guarantee access customers the experience that we had hoped. While facilities including platforms and ambulant areas are still available and customers can still attend, we advise that those with mobility issues avoid the site.”

The festival also confirmed that refunds would be available for accessibility customers.

The Leeds leg at Temple Newsam went ahead with feature performances from the likes of You Me At Six, All-American Rejects and I Prevail. The southern leg took place at Hatfield Park the day prior.

The three festivals join a long list of events that have either been cut short or cancelled due to severe weather.

In the US, adverse weather coverage has “increased significantly” in the last five years, according to Jeff Torda from Higginbotham. Backing this point, a recent Billboard article claimed premiums in North America had tripled in recent years.

The latest edition of ILMC also saw industry leaders discussing ways to cope with the impact of weather on festivals and open-air live music events.

 


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Lovers & Friends Festival cancelled last minute

US festival Lovers & Friends was cancelled less than 15 hours before it was scheduled to begin due to “dangerous weather”.

Promoted by Live Nation, the one-day festival was supposed to kick off on midday Saturday (4 May) in Las Vegas, US, with headlining sets from Usher, Backstreet Boys, Janet Jackson and Alicia Keys.

However, an overnight statement from organisers said they had been “monitoring the weather for several days and proactively preparing for a windy Saturday,” but decided it was too unsafe after advice from public officials and the National Weather Service, which warned of high winds and “gusts potentially more than 60 mph.”

“This was an incredibly heartbreaking decision to make as we are aware that fans have travelled from all over the world to enjoy this incredible lineup of superstars and have been looking forward to this event for several months,” the statement said. “We’ve worked hard to create an amazing event for you, and we are just as disappointed as you are.”

Ja Rule, Ashanti, Gwen Stefani, Monica, Brandy, Nas, M.I.A., Snoop Dogg, Ciara and Ludacris were also featured on the 90s-centric lineup.

“This was an incredibly heartbreaking decision to make as we are aware that fans have travelled from all over the world”

Tickets ranged from $325 (€302) to $695 (€645). Organisers said those who purchased tickets through official channels will receive a refund within 30 days.

Since launching in 2020, Friends & Lovers Festival has experienced its fair share of upsets. When it was first announced in 2020, several artists on its lineup denied their involvement. That year’s event was later cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The festival finally debuted in Vegas in 2022 but three attendees later sued organisers, claiming they failed to provide adequate safety and security measures when rumours of gunfire at the event caused them to be trampled in a stampede. The case is still pending.

Lovers & Friends is the latest festival impacted by extreme weather, following the recent cancellation of California’s Sol Blume.

In the US, adverse weather coverage has “increased significantly” in the last five years, according to Jeff Torda from Higginbotham. Backing this point, a recent Billboard article claimed premiums in North America had tripled in recent years.

The latest edition of ILMC also saw industry leaders discussing ways to cope with the impact of weather on festivals and open-air live music events.

 


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Extreme weather washes out another US festival

A US festival has become the latest victim of weather-related complications, with California’s Sol Blume postponed two weeks before it was set to take place.

Organisers of the Sacramento-based festival, which was originally set for 3-5 May, pointed to lasting effects from the torrential rain that drenched the state in late February. This is the second consecutive year the festival has been delayed due to extreme weather.

“Mother nature has once again caused commotion and created conditions at the festival site that render it unsafe to build on,” organisers said in a press release. “Although the park is no longer flooded, the damage remains. Due to significant site damage and growing safety concerns, we will not be able to host this year’s festival.”

The fifth edition of the festival, which expanded from two to three days this year, has been pushed to 15-17 August 2025. Organisers have also confirmed that future editions are to be held in the late summer instead of spring to avoid “any weather-related conflicts in the future”.

It is not clear whether the lineup — which included SZA, Snoh Alegra, and Kaytranada leading the bill — will remain the same.

“Even if we prepare for everything, you still can’t really control that”

The 2023 edition, which was deferred from April to August for weather-related impacts, was headlined by Brent Faiyaz and Kehlani. That year, the R&B festival recorded its biggest-ever turnout with 46,000 people attending across two days, as reported by promoters ENT Legends.

The cancellation is the latest example of the impact of extreme weather on live music. Over the past year, several festivals — including Germany’s Wacken Open Air, Spain’s Primavera Sound Madrid, the US’s Ultra Miami, and Australia’s Good Things — have been impacted by ‘freak’ and extreme heat-related incidents, as insurance queries and rates have correspondingly risen.

In the US, adverse weather coverage has “increased significantly” in the last five years, according to Jeff Torda from Higginbotham. Backing this point, a recent Billboard article claimed premiums in North America had tripled in recent years.

The latest edition of ILMC also saw industry leaders discussing ways to cope with the impact of weather on festivals and open-air live music events.

“Thirty years ago, it was mostly the rain, but it’s now changed to raining one second and being 35 or 40°C suddenly after that,” said May Ling of Australia’s Chugg Entertainment. “Even if we prepare for everything, you still can’t really control that.”

 


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