Failed Festivals Killing Market

The failure of two recent festivals has killed the confidence of the Bulgarian market, according to Kavarna Festival promoter Martin Stoyanov.

He says the decision to blow out the Bulgarian leg of Sonisphere and the feedback from a disastrous Elevation Festival made it his toughest festival ever in terms of a presale.

The 30,000-capacity Sonisphere scheduled for June 21 was pulled about three weeks before show time because of poor ticket sales, while Elevation (June 24-25) has come under fire for waiting five hours before telling fans that headliner Jamiroquai had canceled on show day.

“Sonisphere and Elevation killed the presales,” Stoyanov told Pollstar. “We had the lowest prices on the market, and still the people started buying tickets on the last three days prior to the festival.”

Kavarna was July 15-17 and the lineup of Arch Enemy, Moonspell, Opeth, Paradise Lost and Sonata Arctica did 3,000 per day, about half of what Stoyanov expected.

Next up is Spirit Of Burgas, which is on the Black Sea coast Aug. 12-14.

The 4-year-old festival has grown steadily to the point that last year it got 15,000 per day, but advance ticket sales are reported to be slower than in 2010.