Promoters and production agencies assess how turbulent economic conditions and shifting audience trends are impacting the industry. 

 

When London one-dayer 51st State cancelled its event last month, it became the 44th UK festival to do so in 2024.

 

51st State’s reasons—low ticket sales, soaring operational costs and a general lull in engagement caused by the cost-of-living crisis—felt all too familiar. 2024 is only halfway through, but last year’s figure for cancelled or postponed festivals (36) in the UK has already long been surpassed. (The total number is now up to 50.) As well as 51st State, Glasgow’s Riverside Festival, Herefordshire’s El Dorado and Bedfordshire’s Ampthill have all recently made similar announcements.

 

“We know we’re not alone,” read El Dorado’s statement. “There’s been a lack of government support in our sector, with many independent festivals announcing their final years, reducing their capacities or being forced into cancellations.”

 

The situation isn’t unique to the UK, either. The legendary German festival Melt confirmed that 2024 will be its 27th and final year, citing “insurmountable changes to the festival landscape.” Greece’s Saristra Music & Arts cancelled due to financial difficulties, as did Vibiscum, a Swiss festival that pulled the plug after selling less than half of its 18,000 tickets.

 

Others, from Australia’s Dark Mofo and Ireland’s Body & Soul, to Bluedot, Visions and Connect Music Festival in the UK, have taken a year off in the hope that things aren’t quite as turbulent come 2025.

 

It’d be easy to dismiss this wave of cancellations as an inevitable byproduct of the global economic climate. After all, fuel prices rose exponentially in the months following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and cash-strapped consumers have been cutting back on luxury items—such as festivals. But John Rostron, CEO of the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), believes the situation is more complex.

 

“It’s effectively a credit crunch on festival operators,” he told Resident Advisor. “Prior to the pandemic, festivals flourished and, for the most part, made money. They had money from a number of different places: investment, advances from ticket sales and money in the bank from previous years. So suppliers might say, ‘Pay us ten percent now and pay the remaining 90 after the show.'”

 

He continued: “That’s all gone out the window since Covid-19. Festivals burnt up all the reserves they had staying afloat during the years where there was no events. Then when events returned, even some festivals that sold out lost money because they set their prices and budget in 2020 for an event that occurred two years later. By this time, prices had gone all over the shop because of Covid-19, Brexit and a handful of other factors. Now your suppliers are looking for 50 to 60 percent upfront because of how much the supply chain is fluctuating. So, if ticket sales stall, suddenly you don’t have the liquidity to pay the bills. This is the big problem for festivals.”

 

In response, the AIF has launched the fivepercentforfestivals campaign, urging the UK government to lower VAT on festival ticket sales from 20 to five percent for a temporary three-year period. “Reducing that figure to five percent, which was done during the pandemic, would’ve saved the vast majority of the events that had to cancel this year,” Rostron added.

 

This challenging terrain has also been compounded by a shift in audience behaviour in recent years. Differences in musical tastes and partying habits between millennials and Gen Z have meant that some promoters struggle to appeal to both demographics with their programming.

 

“This has definitely been more noticeable since Covid-19,” said Liam O’Shea, founder of Sheffield festival No Bounds. The event is back for 2024 after cancelling last year due to what O’Shea described as “extremely challenging” conditions.

 

“It’s hard to pinpoint it all, but it feels like young people are doing other things with their time rather than festivals and clubs,” he told RA. “Also it seems like they’re finding out about trends over social media, rather than actually going out to experience subcultures or scenes, which is changing the landscape drastically.”

 

Dave Clarke, director of Riverside Festival, acknowledged this obstacle, but said that he expects things to eventually level out. “It’s a challenge, but it’s a challenge we can embrace,” he told RA. “People’s tastes develop and evolve, and that’ll continue to happen so long as venues and events survive this difficult period.”

 

Riverside is one of a handful of Scottish festivals forced to cancel this year. Another is PLTFRM, a techno weekender that became a casualty of bureaucracy when Glasgow City Council failed to authorise its licence in time. “We’ve followed the same procedures for the last 11 years and even provided more documentation this time around,” the festival said in a statement. “To find this out is frustrating, soul-destroying and now comes at a huge logistical and financial loss.”

 

Germany’s Danube Festival had a similarly frustrating experience when trying to secure a permit for an open-air location in Brandenburg. After a lengthy legal battle—which cost more in lawyer fees than the entire festival lineup—Danube finally accepted defeat and relocated to an indoor venue in Berlin.

 

“Germany is known for its bureaucratic madness,” founder Marc Heinze told RA. “I’d much prefer to focus on organising the festival, rather than constantly speaking to lawyers and judges. It kills the fun a little bit.”

 

Josepha Groesgen, cofounder of Germany’s Fluid Festival, wasn’t so lucky. Speaking to RA, she said the decision to cancel was directly linked to the rise of the far-right. Fluid was forced to relocate for 2024 after a previous edition, held in a rural Brandenburg location, was disrupted by members of a local far-right party, who entered the festival site and attacked attendees.

 

“We wanted to find a new festival site somewhere in-between Berlin and Hamburg, as that’s where most of our guests were coming from,” said Groesgen. Fluid contacted over 200 potential sites, and finally found a suitable location in late December, but the delay in announcing the festival had an impact on ticket sales. “We operate in an environment that’s increasingly struggling to realise non-profit events while ensure safe spaces,” she continued.

 

Oversaturation is another factor that many promoters say is making it harder for festivals to be economically viable. Clarke believes this affected Riverside’s ticket sales. “Everyone’s entitled to put on their own event, or try something different,” he said. “But the sheer amount of open-air electronic dance music festivals that we were competing with made things difficult.”

 

Yas Galletti, group director of We Are The Fair, is inclined to agree. The festival production company has “definitely increased” its workload in the years following the pandemic, she told RA. “I think the main question this year is, ‘Can people afford to do multiple festivals in the current climate? Can the promoters stomach the last-minute buys and huge financial risk that comes with that?’ I’m not sure. We’ll likely see this summer. We’ve already seen some festivals falling by the wayside due to delayed or slow ticket sales, and others downsizing. With that in mind, I guess it may be oversaturated for the current financial climate of the country.”

 

But not everyone feels this way. James Rice is the former head of marketing at UK-run festivals Dimensions and Outlook, and also worked at Project 6, one of seven dance music festivals that took place in London over the second May bank holiday weekend. He believes this reflects a burgeoning demand.

 

“I don’t necessarily think it’s oversaturated,” he told RA. “There are definitely more events out there, but that’s an exciting thing to see. It just shows how many people are passionate about the scenes they’re tapping into and representing.”

 

Regardless of the reasons behind 2024’s spate of cancellations, Galletti stressed how hard and unforgiving it can be to run a festival—something she urged festivalgoers to keep in mind.

 

“To those who attend festivals, be aware when you’re there just how challenging they are to put on,” she said. “Most of the people organising them work really hard and do it for the love. If there’s a small hitch, it’s great to get your feedback, but try and think of how many moving parts there are to manage. There’s also lots to say about audience behaviour and its impact on the future of festival licensing, but that’s a tale for another day.”

Photo: Colin Lloyd