The price is right? Festivals heads discuss ticket hikes

Ticket price increases for European festivals are cooling off ahead of next summer, according to analysis by IQ.

Prices for full festival tickets increased by an average of 5% between 2024 and 2025, compared to almost 7% from 2023 to 2024, according to analysis of a cross-section of 20 European festivals.

The increase in festival ticket prices between 2023 and 2024 is perhaps best explained by the ballooning rise in costs caused by issues including post-Covid inflation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“The cost of infrastructure has increased so much with the combination of Covid and the cost of Brexit”

German promoter DreamHaus (Rock am Ring/Rock im Park) said production costs increased in the region of 25-30% for the 2023 festival season.

On top of this, organisers had to make up the shortfall from a 2022 edition priced in 2019, as well as two cancelled editions due to the pandemic.

“The fact that we didn’t make any money with a sold-out Hurricane in 2022, but actually lost it, was also due to the fact that we had basically sold the tickets three years earlier,” FKP Scorpio CEO Stephan Thanscheidt said at the time.

“Keeping ticket prices under control while maintaining profit margins at the same time is proving extremely difficult right now,” he added.

But costs are still an ongoing concern for the sector in 2024 – as evidenced by the slate of festival cancellations referencing “financial challenges” and steadily increasing ticket prices.

“I still think festivals are incredible value for money when you compare them to other forms of entertainment”

“The cost of infrastructure has increased so much with the combination of Covid and the cost of Brexit,” John Giddings, Isle of Wight boss, tells IQ. “Plus the cost of artists is more because their productions are bigger.”

Tamás Kádár, CEO of Sziget, adds: “It is indeed a general trend that ticket prices for European festivals are rising to some extent. Unfortunately, we see rising supplier costs and the effects of global (and especially local) inflation. It is something we have to deal with when calculating ticket prices.”

However, raising the ticket price is no small decision for organisers, who are concerned about pricing out swathes of their audiences.

Primavera Sound’s Marta Pallarès recently told IFF delegates: “Thirty percent of our crowd is from Spain. If we [significantly increase our ticket price] we will lose that national crowd, which is important to our identity as a festival.

“Plus, after 24 years, our crowd is younger and they can’t afford a ticket that’s more than €250 so we are keeping the prices for them, to be honest.”

“It’s a constant struggle to keep tickets affordable”

Though organisers are wary of reaching a “red line” with ticket prices, many are keen to point out that festivals are generally good value for money.

“As far as I can see, at a West End theatre the average ticket price is £75-80 for a two-hour show and we’re £300 for a four-day show,” says Giddings. “Or you go to a Formula 1 race and the price is phenomenal. I still think festivals are incredible value for money when you compare them to other forms of entertainment.”

Lowlands director Eric van Eerdenburg testifies: “I think we have one of the highest ticket prices in Holland but if you compare it to a weekend in London, Paris or Berlin, it’s cheap.”

The Dutch festival raised its ticket price to €325 for 2024, up from €300 in 2023 and €255 in 2022.

“It’s a constant struggle to keep tickets affordable,” he says. “But attendees are offered so much entertainment for just €115 per day. People tell me every year that they’ve had the best weekend of their lives.”

With the price of energy, production and acts rapidly increasing, a hike in the ticket price was necessary to “make a reasonable margin” adds Eerdenburg.

“I think the [cooling off] on ticket price increases means that [the sector] is trying to provide value for money”

Sziget’s Kádár echoes these thoughts, adding that the Hungarian festival “is one of the best value-for-money festivals in Europe”. “We have structured the price of our six-day pass so that when divided by day, it becomes even more attractive,” he continues. Elsewhere, Primavera Sound’s €250 ticket price boils down to just €1 per band, according to Pallares.

Giddings adds: “I think the [cooling off] on ticket price increases means that [the sector] is trying to provide value for money.”

At the same time, festivals are doing what they can to keep festival prices down and ensure that events remain accessible to people from all walks of life.

“We offer tiered pricing throughout the year, rewarding our most loyal fans with (Super) Early Bird tickets at nearly last year’s prices,” says Kádár. “We also offer various products, as well as travel and accommodation packages to provide favourable deals for visitors. Additionally, we provide special Under 21 ticket pricing to ensure the festival remains accessible for younger attendees.

“In terms of catering, we have also introduced “budget-friendly” food options for the second consecutive year. Overall, while the economic impacts on festivals are not favourable, we believe that Sziget still can be a festival for everyone.”

Giddings concludes: “It’s not a cheap hobby to put on a festival – it’s a huge financial gamble – but we want to keep it within the realms of possibility for people to afford a four-day camping event.”

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