No Competition For Sweden Rock

Sweden Rock organiser Ingolf Persson’s fears that strong competition and a weak market might hit sales proved to be groundless as the four-day festival sold out its 35,000 capacity.

Apart from headline shows from Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Iron Maiden, and Bon Jovi, Persson also expected a tough time because Bravalla Festival (June 27-29), German promoter FKP Scorpio’s new Swedish fest, also has rock acts such as Rammstein and Green Day on the bill.

“We were a little worried about so many rock acts coming to Sweden, but in the end it turned out to be fantastic,” he said.
The rock and metal festival on the southern Baltic coast at Solvesborg has now sold out nine times in the last 10 years. Last year the Pollstar Award-nominated event fell just a couple of hundred short of capacity.

So far the main sufferers in a crowded Swedish market have been the now-bankrupt Peace & Love and the Siesta Festival in Hässlehol, which canceled due to poor ticket sales.

At press time there was no news of the future of those events, although Peace & Love founder Jesper Heed is confident his festival will survive losses in the region of $2.41 million.

The acts enjoying the warm Swedish summer June 5-8 included KISS, Rush, Europe, Asia, Status Quo and Five Finger Death Punch.