(Page 2) Festival Survey: Charles Attal, Ashley Capps, Jennifer Justice, John Reese & More Weigh in On The Changing Festival Market

The success is strong ticket sales. The festival landscape is strong and healthy around the world.

 

 

Many of the challenges remain the same year over year (security, weather, etc.) but we continually step back and assess our best practices and preparedness in all of these areas and make the necessary adjustments to make it better moving forward.

 

The increase in artist guarantees and the festival landscape becoming more and more competitive is certainly a challenge all festival promoters are facing. 

 

Lollapalooza Berlin 2018 was incredibly unique and special. The site was incredible, and the location was ideal. This particular site gave the unique opportunity to create Aquapalooza, with synchronized swimmers and high divers and acrobats – something no other festival has. The overall vibe of the festival was just spectacular.

 

I don’t share the opinion that there is a festival glut. Success is in the details and you can’t just throw up tents in a field and call it a festival. Organizers have to pay attention to the finer points of the experience, whether it’s the ticket buying process or transportation or having food booths with local eclectic fare. Fans notice when a festival is organized and those that shine have put themselves in their patrons’ shoes to ensure a great experience from beginning to end.  If not, then they are just treading water.

 

Festivals have to constantly be evolving or adding something new or it will become stagnant. 2019 will not likely see a ton of changes but looking further down the road, I predict more boutique festivals will start popping up and will have experiences targeted towards very niche audiences offering enhanced experiences for a smaller group of fans. 

 

Niche, focused festivals, large or small where people can know they dig all of or most of what they are signing up for as a ticket buyer. Also, those that feature higher level experiential and not just the traditional popping up of a stage in a field or forest. 

Weather causing evacuations/cancellations and low ticket sales. The general competitive rut the festival business is in based on competition in the marketplace. Focusing more on specialized lineups and experiences catered to the crowd you are servicing. 

Electric Forest and I’m certain I’ll be adding Suwannee Hulaween for the same reason. The immersive art experience. Lolla & Bonnaroo were great this year, as well, for the bigger fests. 

The “all cost” to attend, the music lineup, the location & how easy it is to get to and from, the accommodations once there, art/the experience, competition in the market/region, activities, nature verse urban, etc. 

That more end up going away while the niche ones rise & continue to find success in their lane. 

Rolling Loud – Rolling Loud proves that as music trends evolve and build, festivals are perfect places to capitalize on single genre movements, either as a whole in part.

Weather and single-year circumstantial cancellations. The festival business is hard and is going to get harder with continued content output and consolidation. That said the business, artists included, should be aware, and able to adapt to the yearly ups and downs of the festival business. One bad year should not be the death of a great event with a great brand and team. Opposed to the promoter baring all of the risk in a down year, there should be give and take. Artist, managers and agencies should do their best to work with producers to ensure the long term success of music focused mass gathering properties.

The geographic location, venue, experience and production is the competitive advantage. A great lineup is the cherry on top. 

Whereas 10 years ago the options were limited to either massive independently owned festivals or smaller to midsize local/regional festivals, today the options are limitless. The questions that come to mind immediately are: “Does the consumer stay loyal to the same festival year in and year out?,” “Are they seeking new experiences, or is a handful of fest experiences in your youth the limit?” 

In 2019 I think we will see festivals aim to convert local and regional fans more so than ever before. From a music perspective hip-hop, indie-pop, electronic and all high energy acts will continue to lead the way as top draws and performances. Incentivizing the youth has and always will be the name of the game, when it comes to building your base audience. Great art, amazing experiences and exceptional marketing will differentiate one festival from another in 2019 and beyond.