The 2025 edition of Rock am Ring has sold out, with 90,000 tickets snapped up in record time.

The German institution will celebrate its 40th anniversary at the Nürburgring from 6–8 June, with 100 acts and the largest production in the festival’s history.

Sister festival Rock im Park in Zeppelinfeld, meanwhile, is making good strides towards a sold out 30th anniversary edition, with 70,000 sold so far.

Bring Me The Horizon, Slipknot and Korn will headline both festivals, while The Prodigy, KIZ, Kontra K, Rise Against, Sleep Token, Spiritbox, Beatsteaks and Idles among others will represent “the enormous stylistic breadth” of the anniversary editions.

News of the sell out follows the June presale, during which Rock am Ring sold 30,000 tickets and Rock im Park sold 20,000 in the first 24 hours. By late October, the former had sold 70,000 and the latter, 50,000.

“Ensuring the best festival experience for fans at Rock am Ring still means first and foremost presenting the best possible programme,” says Matt Schwarz, CEO PRK DreamHaus & eventimpresents, which organises the festivals.

“The festival has always been a reflection of the prevailing pop zeitgeist. At Rock am Ring, developments were anticipated, careers large and small were launched, and an appearance at the Ring has long been like a knighthood for the artists.”

“The festival has always been a reflection of the prevailing pop zeitgeist”

In addition to a blockbuster programme, Rock am Ring 2025 boasts the largest stages in the festival’s history, refreshed camping sites and new futuristic production to create “controlled escapism”.

“We are building a small parallel universe with numerous loving details that fans can immerse themselves in,” explains Jana Posth, festival director Rock am Ring, who recently spoke at ILMC 37 about changing tastes among festival fans.

Rock am Ring was founded by Marcel Avram and Marek Lieberberg’s Mama Concerts in 1985, while Rock im Park took place for the first time in 1995 under Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur (MLK). The twin festivals are now promoted by PRK DreamHaus, eventimpresents and FKP Scorpio, after the firms formed a strategic collaboration.

Last year, DreamHaus and CTS Eventim’s Peter Rieger Konzertagentur (PRK) merged to form a combined company, PRK DreamHaus. The new firm is led jointly by Klaus-Peter (Matze) Matziol and Matt Schwarz, the current managing directors of Cologne-based PRK and Berlin-based DreamHaus, respectively, with Tobi Habla to be appointed as an additional MD.

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Top European festival organisers came together at ILMC 37 to discuss the changing tastes of festival fans and how their events are vying to stand out in an increasingly competitive live music market.

Moderator Alex Bruford, ATC Live (UK), was joined by Jim King, AEG Presents (UK), Virag Csiszar, Sziget (HU), Jana Posth, Rock am Ring (DE) and Ben Ray, Slam Dunk (UK) for Festival Focus: Survive & Thrive.

The session kicked off with a health check on the festival market at large, with panellists agreeing that the sector is in flux and still facing some challenges. While rising costs and artist fees are ongoing concerns among organisers, a newer hurdle is the “festivalisation” of concerts and the competition that poses to traditional festivals.

Rock am Ring’s Posth used Adele’s blockbuster residency in Munich as an example: “It wasn’t just a concert – you could spend the whole day there like you would with a festival. People obviously really like this in-between of festival and concert.”

In addition to a pop-up stadium, the Munich site featured Adele World: an area the size of a small festival, with a recreation of lost Kilburn (London) venue The Good Ship, a fairground, and live performances including a Spice Girls tribute group, for pre-event and after-hours fun.

“Younger people are not really interested in the whole [six-day] package anymore”

Discussing whether younger music fans prefer a one-day event to a multi-day festival, Sziget’s Csiszar noted a change in ticket-buying behaviour for the Budapest-based event. “Younger people are not really interested in the whole [six-day] package anymore,” she said. “We try to convince them to not only come for specific artists but to enjoy the whole experience and to provide exciting stuff.”

However, King – who promotes festivals such as All Points East, BST Hyde Park and Lido – argued that both single-day and multi-day festivals have their place for Gen-Z but that a strong identity is key.

“They’re two different things and they’re both relevant but they should be marketed differently,” he said. “You’re trying to create a different environment, and I think it’s important to achieve that.”

Ray, who promotes the one-day pop-punk, emo, metal and ska-themed festival Slam Dunk, said that attracting new audiences isn’t much of an issue due to the event’s brand and format.

“Luckily, we get a lot of repeat business,” he told delegates. “Being a specialist festival, people that are really into that music attend year after year. They will go to Slam Dunk a lot older than they would do a camping festival.”

“Expectations for camping are a lot higher now, it has to be more than a tent and some grass”

Indeed, greenfield festivals have been stepping up their camping offering to attract the newer generation of festivalgoers. Last month, Reading & Leeds announced details of a ‘historic overhaul’ to its camping offering, unveiling five new campsites featuring a range of improvements, experiences and complimentary add-ons.

Rock am Ring has also updated its camping site, with Posth adding: “Expectations for camping are a lot higher now, it has to be more than a tent and some grass.”

Expectations of food and beverage at festivals have also changed, according to Posth: “It’s true, the younger ones don’t drink as much – I can see this. And they’re also more focused on healthy food, which influences that aspect of the festival. In Germany, you cannot just offer fries and sausages and pizza.”

Though bar-spend may be less among Gen-Z customers, King said there are plenty of other revenue opportunities associated with that generation. “I think you’ve got to understand what your business model is and be flexible with it, especially if you’re going to nine headliners across a festival like BST,” he said. “Our sponsorship numbers are the best we’ve ever seen for every single show that we do and they extend even further when we get into the Gen-Z audience.”

The panel also said that the availability of A-list artists is still an issue for their festivals, though some are looking to the next generation of headliners to fill the gap.

“Our sponsorship numbers are the best we’ve ever seen for every single show that we do”

“It’s always been really hard to find the right six headliners in August – especially because we set expectations high after having Prince and Rihanna,” said Csiszar. “It’s been tough but we managed to secure a really strong lineup of young artists this year [including Chappell Roan and Charli XCX] and I’m really happy to see them reaching this level already.”

King responded: “We’ve got our youngest-ever BST lineup this year and I struggle to think of a time that there were so many young headliners – Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, Noah Kahan. We have made a conscious decision to contemporise our lineups.”

However, the discrepancy in artist fees for touring and festivals is the single biggest issue for festivals according to the AEG Presents veteran.

“You go back five, maybe seven, years ago and there was a marked difference between a major outdoor show where you have concessions – and therefore other forms of revenue – and a concert,” King told delegates.

“Now parties can make much more from headline shows and that’s become a major challenge to the festival industry, which is trying to secure that level of artists so you can’t compete against that.”

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Twin German festivals Rock am Ring and Rock im Park have reported “fantastic” ticket sales for their anniversary editions in 2025, which are selling at a record pace.

Nürburgring’s Rock am Ring has shifted over 70,000 tickets for its 40th instalment while Zeppelinfeld’s Rock im Park has sold 50,000 for its 30th, according to the organisers.

The milestones come 226 days in advance of the festivals, which will take place from 6-8 June and feature 100 acts – made possible by a fourth stage introduced especially for the anniversary editions.

Speaking to IQ, Matt Schwarz, CEO PRK DreamHaus & eventimpresents, says: “The great feedback and strong ticket sales for The Rocks are truly fantastic. We are happy about the billing, including exclusive EU performances by Bring Me the Horizon and Sleep Token.”

The June presale for the festivals was also strong with Rock am Ring selling 30,000 tickets and Rock im Park selling 20,000 in the first 24 hours.

The news comes as Rock am Ring/Rock im Park add dozens of names to the lineup including The Prodigy, In Flames, Spiritbox, Rise Against, Imminence, Nothing More, Stray From The Path, Boston Manor, an Electric Callboy DJ set and more.

They join headliners Bring Me The Horizon and Slipknot, as well as previously announced performers Sleep Token, Jinjer, Powerwolf, Lorna Shore and more.

“We are happy about the billing, including exclusive EU performances by Bring Me the Horizon and Sleep Token”

Thirty acts are yet to be announced for the German festivals, including two headliners whose identity will remain a secret until the shows begin.

The unnamed artists have been described as “two highly sought-after top acts who regularly headline the biggest festivals”.

Weekend passes for Rock am Ring start from €219 and camping tickets for Rock am Ring start from €278, with prices set to increase on 1 November.

Rock am Ring was founded by Marcel Avram and Marek Lieberberg’s Mama Concerts in 1985, while Rock im Park took place for the first time in 1995 under Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur (MLK). The twin festivals are now promoted by DreamHaus, eventimpresents and FKP Scorpio, after the firms formed a strategic collaboration.

Last month, it was announced that DreamHaus and CTS Eventim’s Peter Rieger Konzertagentur (PRK) are merging to form a combined company, PRK DreamHaus. CTS announced its German subsidiaries are pooling their strengths to “create additional synergies, optimise management structures and drive growth even more effectively”.

The new firm will be led jointly by Klaus-Peter (Matze) Matziol and Matt Schwarz, the current managing directors of Cologne-based PRK and Berlin-based DreamHaus, respectively, with Tobi Habla to be appointed as an additional MD. The sites and existing teams will remain unchanged.

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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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Next year’s festivals are beginning to take shape with the likes of Lollapalooza, Slam Dunk, Bluesfest and Rock am Ring revealing artists for their 2025 editions.

Lollapalooza has announced the full lineups for its 2025 South America editions in Chile, Argentina and Brazil.

Justin Timberlake, Olivia Rodrigo, Shawn Mendes, Alanis Morissette, Tool and Rüfüs Du Sol will deliver headline sets at all three events. The shows will mark the first time Rodrigo has performed in South America, and the first time Tool and Timberlake have performed in Chile and Argentina.

Lollapalooza Chile will set up from March 21-23 at Parque Bicentenario de Cerrillos and also feature sets from Benson Boone, Foster the People, Tate McRae, Zedd, Charlotte De Witte, Parcels, Rawayana, Teddy Swims, James Hype, Los Tres, Mon Laferte, Fontaines D.C., Girl in Red, Inhaler, Sepultura and more.

Lolla Argentina will take place on the same weekend in the Hippodromo de San Isidro in Buenos Aires with a similar lineup that will also include sets from Tan Bionica, Wos, La K’onga, Los Angeles Azules, Nathy Peluso, Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso, Caribou, Jpegmafia, San Holo and more.

Lolla Brazil will hit stages from March 28-30 in the Autódromo de Interlagos in São Paulo also with a similar lineup including Wave to Earth, Michael Kiwanuka, Barry Can’t Swim, Neil Frances, Zerb, Disco Lines, Kasablanca, Artemas, Nessa Barrett, DJ GBR, Ashibah, Marina Lima and more.

Byron Bay Bluesfest is gearing up for its “final curtain call”

Meanwhile, UK festival Slam Dunk has announced the first wave of acts for its 2025 instalment, with A Day To Remember, Electric Callboy and Neck Deep topping the bill.

Other confirmed acts include New Found Glory, Alkaline Trio, AS IT IS, Delilah Bon, Dream State, Graphic Nature, Hit The Lights, Hot Mulligan, Knuckle Puck, Less Than Jake, Mouth Culture, Movements, Split Chain, Stray From The Path, The Ataris, The Starting Line, The Used and Zebrahead.

The 30,000-cap pop-punk, emo, metal, and alternative event will take place in Hatfield Park on Saturday 24 May, before heading north to Temple Newsam in Leeds the following day.

Slam Dunk promoter Ben Ray discussed the brand’s 2024 UK edition and European expansion in an interview with IQ earlier this year.

Elsewhere, Byron Bay Bluesfest is gearing up for its “final curtain call” which will take place from 17-20 April 2025.

Confirmed acts for the swansong edition include Crowded House, Vance Joy, Tones and I, Ocean Alley, Here Come The Mummies, The California Honeydrops, Taj Farrant, Cimafunk, Neal Francis, Pierce Brothers, WILSN, and 19-Twenty.

Ireland’s biggest music festival Electric Picnic has sold out more than a year in advance, without a single act being announced

German twin festivals Rock am Ring and Rock im Park were among the first major festivals to unveil their 2025 lineups.

Both events will mark significant anniversaries from 6-8 June next year, with Nürburgring’s Rock am Ring celebrating its 40th birthday and Nürnberg’s Rock im Park turning 30.

Slipknot were the first headliner to be confirmed in the aftermath of this year’s editions and a number of additional acts have now been revealed.

In a European exclusive, Bring Me The Horizon are the second headliner to be announced. The performances will be the band’s only concerts on the continent in 2025.

Sleep Token will also be playing their only European shows of the year at the events, while other artists will include Biffy Clyro, KIZ, A Day To Remember, Beatsteaks, Lorna Shore, The Warning, Feine Sahne Fischfilet, Idles, Jinjer, Powerwolf and The Ghost Inside.

Elsewhere, Ireland’s biggest music festival Electric Picnic has sold out more than a year in advance, without a single act being announced.

Goodlive is gearing up for a particularly busy weekend with Superbloom (Munich) and Lollapalooza Berlin taking place

The Festival Republic-promoted event will be held at Stradbally Hall in Stradbally, County Laois, from 29-31 August next year, reverting to its traditional late summer date.

General admission tickets, priced €290, went on sale at 9 am on 22 August and were snapped up within hours. The festival also operates a loyalty scheme, offering discounted passes for previous attendees. The 2024 edition was headlined by Noah Kahan, Calvin Harris and Kylie Minogue.

Meanwhile, this year’s 2024 festival season is drawing to a close with a handful of events yet to be delivered.

German festival, booking and services agency Goodlive is gearing up for a particularly busy weekend with Superbloom (Munich) and Lollapalooza Berlin taking place concurrently.

As reported earlier this year, Live Nation-backed Goodlive has joined the organisation and production teams behind Lollapalooza Berlin, alongside C3 Presents and Live Nation GSA.

The festival’s 2024 lineups share more than a dozen acts, including Sam Smith, Burna Boy, The Chainsmokers, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Loyle Carner, Nothing But Thieves, The Sacred Souls, Chappell Roan and Apashe with Brass Orchestra. Both events are set to take place in the Olympic Stadiums of their respective cities.

Superbloom MD and festival director Fruzsina Szép helped to launch Lolla Berlin in 2015.

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German twin festivals Rock am Ring and Rock im Park are among the first major European events to unveil their 2025 lineups.

Both events will mark significant anniversaries from 6-8 June next year, with Nürburgring’s Rock am Ring celebrating its 40th birthday and Nürnberg’s Rock im Park turning 30.

Slipknot were the first headliner to be confirmed in the aftermath of this year’s editions and a number of additional acts have now been revealed.

In a European exclusive, Bring Me The Horizon are the second headliner to be announced. The performances will be the band’s only concerts on the continent in 2025.

Organisers say more than 90,000 tickets have already been sold for the festivals’ 2025 anniversary editions

Sleep Token will also be playing their only European shows of the year at the events, while other artists will include Biffy Clyro, KIZ, A Day To Remember, Beatsteaks, Lorna Shore, The Warning, Feine Sahne Fischfilet, Idles, Jinjer, Powerwolf and The Ghost Inside.

The 2024 incarnation was headlined by Die Ärzte, Avenged Sevenfold, Queens of the Stone Age and Green Day.

Rock am Ring and Rock im Park sold a combined 50,000 tickets for their 2025 anniversary editions in the first 24 hours of going on sale in June.

Organisers say that number now exceeds 90,000, with around 55,000 tickets sold for the former and 35,000 for the latter. The festivals are staged by FKP Scorpio, eventimpresents and DreamHaus.

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Twin German festivals Rock am Ring and Rock im Park have already sold a combined 50,000 tickets for their anniversary editions in 2025, organisers have revealed.

Rock am Ring has shifted around 30,000 tickets for next year’s festival and Rock in Park 20,000 in the first 24 hours of the presale beginning on Monday.

Nürburgring’s Rock am Ring celebrates its 40th anniversary next year, while Nürnberg’s Rock im Park turns 30, with metal icons Slipknot the first headliner to be confirmed. Weekend passes for the former cost €179, with camping tickets for the latter event starting at €248.

The events are set to return from 6-8 June next year and will feature around 100 acts – more than ever before – made possible by a fourth stage introduced especially for the anniversary editions. As per Frontstage, there will also be new camping categories as well as other innovations announced in the next few months.

The 2024 incarnation of the FKP Scorpio/eventimpresents/DreamHaus-promoted festivals each attracted in the region of 80,000 fans last weekend to see artists such as Die Ärzte, Avenged Sevenfold, Queens of the Stone Age and Green Day.

“The positive response to this year’s festivals was overwhelming, so we are all the more pleased that fans are just as excited about the big anniversary year”

“The positive response to this year’s festivals was overwhelming, so we are all the more pleased that fans are just as excited about the big anniversary year as we are and are securing their tickets early,” says DreamHaus CEO and festival organiser Matt Schwarz.

FKP expanded its collaboration with CTS stablemate DreamHaus by forming a strategic partnership to co-promote Germany’s Rock am Ring/Rock im Park and Hurricane/Southside festivals together from this year. Previously, DreamHaus and FKP Scorpio had already jointly organised the Tempelhof Sounds Festival in Berlin in 2022.

Last year, FKP’s Hurricane and Southside, which will be held from 21-23 June, also set advance booking records after putting tickets on sale for 2024. The festivals will star the likes of Ed Sheeran, Avril Lavigne, The National, The Kooks, The Offspring, The Hives, Jungle and Fontaines DC.

Fans bought over 50,000 tickets on the first day of the presale, setting a new bar in the 20-plus-year history of the twin festivals in Scheeßel (Hurricane) and Neuhausen ob Eck (Southside), which have a combined capacity of 143,000. Each batch of 10,000 tickets for the first price level of €199 sold out within just 20 minutes for both festivals.

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Germany’s Rock am Ring and Rock im Park have confirmed Slipknot as the first headliner for their landmark 2025 festivals.

Rock am Ring, held at Nürburgring, celebrates its 40th anniversary next year, while Nürnberg’s Rock im Park turns 30.

The 80,000-cap events are set for 6-8 June and will feature around 100 acts – more than ever before. There will also be a fourth stage introduced especially for the anniversary editions.

The announcement comes in the immediate aftermath of the FKP Scorpio/eventimpresents/DreamHaus-promoted twin festivals’ successful 2024 editions, which welcomed artists such as Die Ärzte, Avenged Sevenfold, Queens of the Stone Age and Green Day.

“The last few days have gone incredibly well,” says Rock am Ring festival director Jana Posth, as per Sport-Rhein. “We were very lucky with the weather, the setup and the event went smoothly.”

“We are looking forward to celebrating the 40th anniversary of Rock am Ring at the Nürburgring next year”

Weekend passes for Rock am Ring cost €179, with Rock im Park camping tickets starting at €248.

“The site offers us optimal conditions to put on a great festival,” adds DreamHaus CEO Matt Schwarz. “We are looking forward to celebrating the 40th anniversary of Rock am Ring at the Nürburgring next year and would like to thank the entire team and the best audience in the world.”

Day tickets for this year’s Rock am Ring were €121.50, up from €99 in 2023, and €271.50 for three-day tickets, compared with €229 last year, but Schwarz says the price increases were unavoidable.

“We all notice every day in the supermarket, at the gas station or in all other areas of everyday life how the geopolitical situation, inflation and the pandemic have a lasting impact on life and simply make it more expensive,” he tells Watson. “Festivals are no exception.”

Adding that this year saw the launch of “a new, better and louder sound system”, he notes: “This year we have further improved the stage technology to make the experience for visitors even more gigantic.”

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Berlin-based promoter DreamHaus is strengthening its festival team with three new hires: Jana Posth, Marlene Ryba and Johanna Neuber.

All three executives will work on the Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals, which DreamHaus has been responsible for since 2022 after it was acquired by CTS Eventim.

Jana Posth takes over the position as head of festival operations/festival director Rock am Ring. She has held roles in the events sector for 10 years, including managing the Lollapalooza Festival in Berlin.

“With fresh ideas and their great know-how in the field of festivals, Jana, Marlene and Johanna enrich our team enormously”

Marlene Ryba assumes the role of senior communications & PR manager of festivals, having previously worked in the PR department at Lollapalooza.

And Johanna Neuber, who has been active in the music industry for five years, joins the team as a junior project and event manager.

“With fresh ideas and their great know-how in the field of festivals, Jana, Marlene and Johanna enrich our team enormously and contribute to the future-oriented development of Rock am Ring/Rock im Park,” says Marc Seemann, director of strategy & business development.

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CTS Eventim “significantly exceeded” its forecast for 2023 thanks to a “very strong” Q4, according to the company’s latest financial results.

The pan-European giant enjoyed a record year, attaining consolidated revenue of €2.359 billion for the 12-month period – a 22.5% increase on the previous year’s €1.926bn. CTS had previously projected group revenue in excess of €2bn for 2023 as a whole last October.

In the preliminary figures, the group also reported normalised EBITDA of €501.4 million, up 31.9% from €380.1m in the previous year. CTS’ full annual report for 2023 will be published on 26 March.

The growth was powered by the German-headquartered firm’s ticketing and live entertainment segments. Ticketing revenue rose 32.5% to €717m (2022: €541m), with normalised EBITDA leaping 46.6% to €382.4m.

For the live entertainment strand, revenue jumped 18.9% year-on-year to €1.677bn (2022: €1.410bn), with normalised EBITDA almost flat at €119.1m, compared to €119.2m in 2022.

The group figures include income of €37.4m to which CTS group companies are directly entitled, resulting from compensation paid by the German government to the joint venture autoTicket GmbH, Berlin.

“The year-on-year growth rates shown here reflect the success of the operating business”

“As the prior-year figures contained a similar volume of income that had been received under pandemic-related economic aid programmes, the year-on-year growth rates shown here reflect the success of the operating business,” adds a company statement.

According to Pollstar’s 2023 global rankings, the Eventim Group is the world’s second-biggest promoter. The firm’s portfolio includes festivals such as Rock am Ring, Rock im Park, Hurricane, Southside,and Lucca Summer.

It also operates venues, such as the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, the K.B. Hallen in Copenhagen, the Waldbühne in Berlin and the Eventim Apollo in London.

Visions reports that more than 90,000 tickets have already been sold for Germany’s Rock am Ring and Rock im Park, which take place from 7-9 June at Nürburgring race track and Zeppelin Field, respectively.

Operated by CTS’ Dreamhaus subsidiary, the twin festivals will be headlined by Die Ärzte, Måneskin and Green Day. The events’ new premium camping offers are said to be almost sold out, while tickets for the Backstage Camp, Seaside Backstage Camp and Caravan Camping are already sold out.

“The demand for tickets is strong and the fans’ anticipation is huge,” says Dreamhaus CEO Matt Schwarz.

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