2018 In Review: Festivals –Not So Easy Come, Easy Go?

Courtesy Astroworld Festival – Astroworld
Travis Scott’s inaugural Astroworld Festival in Houston, pictured here during Rae Sremmurd’s Nov. 17 set, is an example of the increasing number of major artists curating or hosting their own festivals.

Though the festival market in 2018 was dynamic and robust, a few major events were marred by bad weather, canceled or discontinued altogether in the second half, while others continued to show strength in the notoriously difficult and always saturated market.

Major discontinuations included the announcement that the 2018 weather-plagued edition of Sloss Music & Arts Festival in Birmingham, Ala., co-produced by AC Entertainment, would be its final. 

Also, the brand-new InCuya Music Festival in Cleveland, put on in collaboration with AEG and the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, announced it wouldn’t take place next year after debuting with a full lineup of major artists.  

These are just some notable events adding to a year that saw major shakeups including the discontinuation of Sasquatch! Music Festival at The Gorge in Washington and FYF in Los Angeles unexpectedly canceling in May with a full lineup and major headliners like Janet Jackson and Florence + The Machine. 

It wasn’t all bad news, of course. New events continue to add competition and meet fan demand, notably Superfly’s Grandoozy in Denver which had its inaugural event, and established events like Outside Lands in San Francisco (at $27.7 million, the No. 1 festival gross reported to Pollstar in 2018), Forecastle in Louisville (highest attendance ever according to Ashley Capps), and Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis (91,933 tickets) appear as healthy as ever. Gregg Perloff, CEO of Outside Lands producer Another Planet Entertainment, said 2018 was a milestone. 

“Eleven years in, Outside Lands continues to grow and evolve with this year’s Saturday show being the single biggest sales day in the history of the festival,” Perloff told Pollstar. C3’s Charles Attal said ticket sales were strong worldwide, and Lollapalooza in Brazil was a prime example, with more than 300,000 tickets moved ($23.3 million gross, No. 2) over three days.

Just a few other strong showings this year  included Life Is Beautiful in Las Vegas at No. 4 on the chart with $19.5 million grossed, Osheaga in Montreal (No. 5, $10.5 million), twinned German fests Southside and Hurricane grossing $10.1 million and $11.2 million, respectively, and Electric Daisy Carnival Mexico at No. 9 with $8.9 million grossed.  

On the acquisitions front, AEG was busy, acquiring Firefly Festival in Delaware as well as festival promoter and venue operator PromoWest Productions based in Columbus, Ohio.

Meanwhile, a high-profile legal battle brews between AEG and Danny Wimmer Presents, with the two parting ways and exchanging legal barbs, most recently with AEG accusing DWP of walking away from agreements to stage Rock On The Range and Carolina Rebellion and then simply rebranding them as two new events.  

One of the most notable trends of 2018 was the continued proliferation of artist-led events, with everyone from Post Malone (Dallas, Posty Fest) and Travis Scott (Astroworld, Houston) to Excision’s second-year Lost Lands in Ohio and first-year Bass Canyon at the Gorge joined by a full bill of electronic acts for massive events.  

Michael Tullberg / Getty Images – Sun Soaked
The Sun Soaked Outdoor Beach Party in Long Beach July 21 was hosted by Kaskade with 31,000 people in attendance.

UTA seems particularly active in the artist-led space, representing the aforementioned Post Malone and Excision, as well as Kaskade who had his own Southern California takeover. Acts including X Ambassadors staged its second year Cayuga Sound in Ithaca, N.Y., country artist Cody Jinks debuted his Loud And Heavy festival, while The National launched its first Homecoming in Cincinnati, which AC Entertainment’s Capps called one of this year’s big festival wins. 

“And then Moon River, which was a collaboration with Drew Holcomb,” Capps said. “It sold out in March in a single day – almost six months ahead of the festival.” However, one of the earlier events in the recent wave of artist-curated events, Bon Iver and The National’s Eaux Claires in Wisconsin, just announced it will take a break in 2019 and return in 2020.  

Lifestyle events continue to be popular as well, with John Reese’s Synergy Global Entertainment producing 35 destination and separate touring events, including Lost Lands and Ohana. 

2019 appears poised for another big year and, what better barometer than the actual money itself? 

“I am very, very bullish on the music industry as it relates to the live music sector, specifically festivals,” First Tennessee Bank senior vice president of relationships Bryan Bolton told Pollstar. “The best way to make money these days in the industry is live music, and it’s the fan experience.”