All the festivals that are closing down

[ska invita]

Anyone have any thoughts?
A friend went to SHINDIG this year....turns out that was the last one
Think I heard someone say over 100 festival shut this last year?

 

[plurker]

I read the other week that only three large ones remain independent - Green Man, WOMAD, and Glastonbury - all the rest are owned either wholly or in part by Live Nation or FR, both of whom can soak up an annual loss.

It's very tough for the independent ones, for sure, as they don't have that financial security behind them. They all run at such a high breakeven point that it only takes a wet weekend that needs trackway or bark hired in late, or something like that to push a year's event from profit into debt.

The costs of all infra hire has increased hugely in the post-pandemic world too. A mate runs a 500cap event each year to fundraise for his charity, but rising costs have meant it's no longer viable so this weekend is the final one

 

[ska invita]

Capitalism leads naturally to consolidation and monopoly

 

[mx wcfc]

I go to between 6 and 8 festivals a year. Normally one "biggish" one (eg Bearded, Wickham, Boomtown) and lots of small DIY punk etc festivals. Going Feral last month raised £1,000 for a mental health charity, despite being maybe 150 under capacity (guessing). At least one is a private party, rather than a festival, which gives you an indication of the sort of size involved!

I'm surprised at a figure of 100 festivals that have shut, but I'm probably not in the loop on a lot of festivals further north or "the wrong genre". What I can say is that one festival I had pencilled in for this year got cancelled. Another had to find a new site at very short notice due to excessive council demands, and numbers have been falling steadily at the one festival I go to every year. I see a lot of FB posts plugging tickets just days before the festival [eta - Wickham started today and they have posted today on FB offering tix] . Nothing sells out, I don't think, other than Glastonbury, (maybe a few others - I think BD and BT ran out of campervan tickets, but not admission).

Reasons? There's a lot of festivals out there, maybe there were just too many for them all to survive. Costs are certainly up, but the cost of living crisis means many people have to ration themselves and can't afford higher ticket prices. It's not just the ticket cost, it's getting there and then buying food/drink/merch. Too many commercial festivals take the piss with food and drink prices, which puts people off.

I'm confident that the independent DIY festival scene is immune from big business interference and will survive, possibly in a slimmed down way though, if there's no money around.

 

[mx wcfc]

Anyone have any thoughts?
A friend went to SHINDIG this year....turns out that was the last one
Think I heard someone say over 100 festival shut this last year?

Just seen something on a festival workers FB group suggesting that Shindig suppliers are owed money two months after the festival.......

 

[ska invita]

The festival explosion that happened was something else and from a pure market point of view it probably is to be expected that it wouldn't hold for ever especially in an economic downturn.

I think the culture has also been sanitised and is less exciting, and countercultural music scene in general is flagging compared to some previous high points

Hopefully there'll be enough small scale events to keep the vibe alive. The numbers and economics look pretty terrible though from the hearsay I've had

 

[ska invita]

Music festivals 'need intervention' - as number of cancellations hits 50

Geronimo and Towersey are among the latest festivals to announce cancellations due to rising costs - with the Association of Independent Festivals warning the number going under could reach triple figures by the end of 2024.

news.sky.com

 

[mx wcfc]

The festival explosion that happened was something else and from a pure market point of view it probably is to be expected that it wouldn't hold for ever especially in an economic downturn.

I think the culture has also been sanitised and is less exciting, and countercultural music scene in general is flagging compared to some previous high points

Hopefully there'll be enough small scale events to keep the vibe alive. The numbers and economics look pretty terrible though from the hearsay I've had

Yeah. This year we were told that this was Glastonwick's last year at the current venue, apparently due to numbers, rather than the farm deciding to call it quits.

When I started going in 2011, Saturday night was sold out, and they had 80 barrels of ale and had to send out for more supplies. This year they were nowhere near selling out and had 50 barrels of ale.

(it's an odd festival - just outside Brighton. they lay on free buses so have a lot of day trippers as well as camping stalwarts. There's also a very wide range of artists from poetry to punk bands, folk rock to chamber choirs)

By the end Attila was telling us we might be back there next year.

 

[ska invita]

BUMP
Is there a listing place for free (very cheap/small) festivals still?

 

[stethoscope]

eFestivals - Music Festival News, Lineups, Tickets & More still has pages/listings/forums for small festivals as well as big ones.

 

[pbsmooth]

there are just too many. certainly in the dance music world festivals have just replaced clubs for a huge chunk of the year for lots of people and artists.