Features
INmusic Survives The Crush
Croatian promoter Zoran Maric believes the number of cheap concert tickets on the market did his INmusic festival more harm than the number of rival festivals that have sprung up in the cash-strapped Balkan country.
Photo: facebook.com/INmusic.festival
Adria, a company part-owned by Live Nation, is offering half-price tickets for acts including Iron Maiden, Robbie Williams, and Leonard Cohen, among others, while Croatia has about a dozen festivals in this year’s calendar.
Burning Sea, which was scheduled in Zadar June 5-8 before being canceled, has already fallen foul of the economic situation and the Croatian government’s decision to impose a 20 percent VAT levy on tickets.
The decision has subsequently been reversed and the government is now settling for 5 percent.
Live Nation Central & Eastern Europe chief Tim Dowdall says the company’s offering a limited number of half-price tickets and only in locations with less attractive sightlines.
“The economic situation is terrible because Croatia has been in recession for four years,” he explained, pointing out that the national average wage is in the region of euro 300 ($386) per month.
The acts helping INmusic keep its head above water June 24-26 included Arctic Monkeys, Iggy & The Stooges, Basement Jaxx, Bloc Party, Editors, NOFX, and Airbourne.