Combatting Slower Ticket Sales: Independent Festivals Team Up With IndepenDANCE Golden Ticket To Survive

In the Empire office in downtown San Francisco, Northern Nights’ co-founder, Andrew Borgelt and Deron Delgado, VP of Operations at Dirtybird, met to discuss how they could revamp their festivals and appeal to crowds. Both were struggling to find ways to sell enough tickets in a more expensive market consumed by music festivals owned by larger companies, and they were searching for a way to maintain their independent spirits while remaining afloat. By the end, the two were in agreement that Dirtybird Campout would return to the northern California redwoods as part of a combined festival with Northern Nights. 

“The biggest challenge unique to this event is trying to communicate to both of our respective fans,” Borgelt says. “We announced the partnership before we announced the lineup, and I think the lineup was the perfect representation of how this would come together.” 

The inaugural Dirtybird Campout and Northern Nights collaborative festival took place at the Cook’s Valley Campground on the Humboldt/Mendocino county line in Northern California from July 18 to 20. This year’s lineup featured Jungle, Zeds Dead, Alone, Justin Martin, Levity, Walker & Royce and more, showcasing how the two festivals would blend together with a mix of artists signature to Dirtybird and artists appealing to the Northern Nights’ fan base.

For many in the music industry, tickets not selling until the week of show has become a common phenomenon. Sales often go down to the wire, with tickets sometimes still moving after doors. For Delgado, he’s experienced shows with Dirtybird where the week of, only a couple hundred tickets sold, but by the time the show starts, 1,200 fans are in attendance. 

“A lot of tickets seem to come last minute,” Delgado says. “You’re always on that thing. For a lot of the club shows we do, including a Road to Campout show at 1015 Folsom in San Francisco, it’s week of and only a couple hundred tickets sold. That adds a bit of stress, whether people are not willing to pony up ticket money up front or commit to experiences right away. And we’ve seen this in Denver and Seattle.” 

This experience isn’t singular to Dirtybird, as those across the music industry have faced similar challenges. However, other independent festivals in the southwest were also struggling to navigate slower ticket sales.

They also saw an opportunity to join forces with Same Same But Different (Sept. 26 to 28 in Lake Perris, California), Desert Hearts (July 2 to 6 in Flagstaff, Arizona) and Joshua Tree Music Festival (Oct. 9 to 12 in Joshua Tree Lake Campground) to further appeal to fans with the IndepenDANCE ticket, a pass that provides access to four music festivals and supports other independent events in the southwest. 

“We saw an immediate spike in engagement and ticket interest, not just for Desert Hearts, but across the board,” Desert Hearts co-founder, Mikey Lion, says. “It created buzz and got people talking again about the importance of supporting independent festivals. In a crowded market, attention is everything, and this gave us something fresh and collaborative to get people stoked.” 

For independent promoters, especially with higher rising costs coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic (that ultimately led many independent festivals to shutter completely), competing with major players in the market can appear impossible. With backing by big-money investors, issues that have plagued festivals of all sizes are more manageable. Weather delays (or cancellations), supply-chain issues and slowed sales, while still cause for concern, aren’t necessarily a death sentence. For the indies, stakes are much higher.

“If we don’t [work together], we’re going to get steamrolled,” Lion says. “The big players have massive budgets, massive reach, and the ability to take risks we simply can’t. But what we have is culture. We have authenticity. And that only survives if we work together. Teaming up allows us to pool resources, share audiences, and show fans that this isn’t just about one event. It’s about a movement. We’re all fighting the same battle, and we’re stronger together than we are on our own.” 

Borgelt emphasizes how much he hopes other independent events can succeed. He admits many of the festivals they’re partnering with for the IndepenDANCE Golden Ticket intersect in a Venn diagram of artists who will perform at each event, and they’ll even attend their partnered festivals. Northern Nights and Dirtybird Campout sent out a text for their attendees to help promote Lightning in a Bottle, located in Bakersfield, California, and the festival sent one for their own festival after their show was over. 

“Northern Nights and Dirtybird are working together. Desert Hearts and Dirtybird are working together. Barnett from Joshua Tree is coming up, and he’s actually got the all-night coffee booth,” Borgelt says. “I think it’s about being open to these other festivals that in the past people looked at as competition. We all provide something a little different, we all bring something different to the table… And I think what’s great about the independent spirit is that we trust each other. We can have a handshake agreement, at the end of the day we can look at each other and be like, ‘Alright, cool. We’re going to follow through with this.’”