Euro festival heads on biggest challenges for 2025

European festival organisers have named the continued rise in production costs their top concern for 2025 in the new European Festival Survey.

The third annual survey was included in the recently published European Festival Report 2024, the annual summary of the biggest trends, happenings, and initiatives on the festival scene.

More than 220 festivals have taken part in this latest European Festival Survey – the majority of which are multi-day festivals and more than 10 years old.

Of these respondents, the majority (67%) said they believe a ‘rise in production costs’ will be their biggest challenge in 2025, while just over half of respondents (55%) predicted that ‘booking artists’ will be their second-biggest challenge this year, and 40% named ‘selling tickets/attendance’ as the third.

The fourth-biggest concern among festival organisers was ‘extreme weather conditions’ (33%) and the fifth was sponsorship (21%).

According to the survey, these were also the three top concerns in 2024: rising production costs (71%), booking artists (49%), and selling tickets (35%).

Gadget Entertainment festival director Christof Huber used to book big acts like Muse and Depeche Mode for his events but told delegates at the European Festival Summit that “I think these times are over for us”, due to the rise in artist fees. Instead, he’s now targeting more affordable acts – in particular, mainland European acts, as UK and US artists are often too expensive and/or unavailable.

The majority of respondents said they believe a ‘rise in production costs’ will be their biggest challenge in 2025

Alter Art CEO Mikołaj Ziółkowski, who is behind major Polish festival Open’er, agreed. He said that because artists are getting so much from headline stadium and arena shows – and that the pricey tickets are dominating people’s leisure spend – festivals are having to compete.

“One of our biggest challenges is that it seems Gen Z likes stadium shows more than festivals, because they like the comforts available at concerts. But we’re also facing the fact that most of the big acts want to do shows with huge production, and often festivals can’t accommodate that. Plus, artists at headliner level want to have control over their own show, make more money, and have their own audience in front of them.”

Indeed, at IFF in London last September, agent Matt Bates of Primary Talent International said: “When you’re a huge artist nowadays, there’s a tendency to do your own thing, rather than performing at a festival, which would’ve been the norm ten to 15 years ago.”

What could give some comfort to promoters looking at their artist budget with trepidation is that according to a survey of over 7,000 fans carried out by festival platform Höme and YOUROPE, people prefer atmosphere over headliners. Some 85% said this was their primary reason for going to a festival, while 54% said that headliners were the main reason.

The fourth-biggest concern among festival organisers was weather. The increasing frequency of extreme events, such as the microburst that hit Slovakia’s Pohoda festival this year, means this is very much at the front of people’s minds.

Political issues were a key concern for 27% of people in 2022, 36% in 2023, and just 8% this year, while staffing was the main concern for 74% in 2022, 46% last year, and 4% in 2024. This
reflects the major challenges faced by festivals immediately after the pandemic, when thousands of experienced professionals left the industry, resulting in a staffing crisis.

Just over half of respondents predicted that ‘booking artists’ will be their second-biggest challenge this year

This has improved over time, as more people entered the business. Equally, supply chain issues were a concern for 55% immediately after Covid, 41% in 2023, and 3% in 2024, mirroring the improvement in this situation over time.

Tackling challenges
When it comes to overcoming challenges, just under half of events (46%) made changes last year. Many festivals sought to enhance their offerings by increasing capacity or introducing additional stages. One added a dedicated electronic music stage, catering to a younger demographic and attracting new sponsors. Another added an extra day.

On the flipside, some festivals had to make difficult cutbacks. For instance, one reduced the number of headline acts, opting for regional talent instead. By doing so, they not only lowered artist fees but also appealed to local audiences

Another festival removed its late-night programming to save on staffing and energy costs, with organisers noting that this change surprisingly did not affect overall satisfaction scores. Quite a few events reduced the number of days from three to two in order to reduce costs, although others decided to invest in more programming and additional stages. Many festivals said they proactively sought to book more of a gender-balanced lineup.

When it comes to 2025, fewer festivals (42%) said they planned to make changes. While many said the exact nature of these changes would depend on the situation this year, those that had specific plans included shifting programming focus to appeal to broader or more diverse audiences, such as expanding genres from niche styles to more mainstream music to drive ticket sales; introducing new ticketing models, such as discounted youth tickets to attract younger audiences; and plans to add stages or improve stage layouts for a better audience experience.

When it comes to 2025, 42% of festivals said they planned to make changes including shifting programming focus to appeal to broader

Volunteers are the lifeblood of many festivals, with 76% saying they are able to engage such workers. Volunteers often exchange their time for free festival passes, making it an attractive option for many people. However, 24% of festivals are not allowed to have volunteers on-site – a significant number when you consider the cost of staffing.

When it comes to the environment, 77% of festivals said they plan to become climate-neutral in the future.

The full European Festival Survey can be read here.

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