Sonisphere Immune To Balkan Blues

Europe’s traveling Sonisphere Festival seemed immune to the problems of a weak Balkan market as the organisers report this year’s events have already sold 500,000 tickets.

Stuart Galbraith of the UK’s Kilimanjaro, which runs Sonisphere in cahoots with John Jackson’s London-based K2 Agency, told Pollstar the last four festivals in Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Turkey pulled 310,000 people. That’s an average of a little more than 34,000 per day.

The run began in Bulgaria at Sofia’s Vasil Levski National Stadium, where a lineup including Metallica, Rammstein, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax and Manowar pulled 90,000 June 22-23.

Next up was a one-dayer in Greece, which attracted 30,000 to the Terra Vibe Park in Athens, home of the country’s Rockwave Festival. About 30,000 showed for a bill that also had Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax.

The Balkan leg of Sonisphere wrapped with two overlapping three-day festivals June 25-27, which were in Romania at the Bucharest Romexpo and in Turkey at Istanbul’s BJK ÿnönü Stadium.

Metallica, Rammstein, Manowar, Slayer, Megadeth, Alice In Chains, and Anthrax were among the acts to play them both.
Galbraith reported that over the three days the Romanian Sonisphere did 90,000 and the Turkish one did 105,000.