Best St. Gallen In 16 Years

Switzerland’s Open Air St. Gallen Festival had its best ticket sales in 16 years, equaling the 20th anniversary edition of 1996 by selling out a month in advance.

Festival chief Christof Huber reckons this year’s fest did even better than the anniversary bash, largely because of the number of people still wanting tickets after the 30,000-capacity event sold out.

“I think we could have done 45,000 per day,” he said, while pointing out that the festival, which takes place at one of the highest cities in Switzerland, has no plans to get any bigger.

He says increasing the capacity might mean lowering the crowd’s comfort level and diluting the festival’s atmosphere.
Huber’s claim that 2012 actually topped 1996 is backed by the fact the warm-up day, when people arriving early can pitch their tents and listen to a few (mainly) Swiss acts, had 20,000 on site.

The lineup helping St. Gallen hit new heights June 28 to July 1 included Die Toten Hosen, Incubus, Deadmau5, Mumford & Sons, Florence & The Machine, Paolo Nutini and Ed Sheeran.