Economies of Scale Make Music Festivals Great Value.

There has been much comment in the media recently about the large rises in the costs of music festival tickets. Despite the seemingly high prices for attending a 3-day music festival in 2023 they probably still represent excellent value for money when compared to the cost of attending a one-off concert. 

The cost of a ticket for Glastonbury in 2023 is £340 which is a substantial increase over previous years, conversely the cost to attend a concert is probably more than £50. Despite grumbles form many regular festival-goers about music festival ticket prices rising sharply this year they still represent excellent value for money compared to alternative live music entertainment.

Rising Costs and Inflation. 
Most economies around the world have been experiencing high levels of inflation which is impacting on the costs of just about everything. Suppliers to the music festival industry have had to increase their prices and festival organisers have had no choice but to increase their ticket prices as result. It’s not only the ticket prices that have increased as the cost of transport to and from the festival site have gone up too. The expense of on-site food and beverages have seen similar rises. There are also implications for the cost of hosting one-off concert events where an artist performing at a fixed venue will incur all the production costs. With music festivals most costs are shared as artists are using the same backline and lighting systems.

Productivity. 
A one-off concert that features a headline act plus support can provide 3 or 4 hours of entertainment including breaks. A headliner may perform for one or two hours with support acts providing another hour. Concert goers still have to take into account the cost of transport to the venue plus the high cost of venue refreshments. A music festival may feature numerous headline acts and festival-goers have the option to pick and choose from hundreds of performance artists scheduled over two or three days. The sets may be shorter ranging from 20 minutes to an hour, but festival-goers can expect almost non-stop performances for up to 12 hours a day. 

Value for Money.
Considering how many big-name artists festival-goers can see over a number of days attendance at a music festival represents great value for money when compared to attending a concert. If going to 7 concerts represents the cost of festival ticket the comparison is clear when festival-goers could see 30 or mores artists for the same expenditure. Static venue owners may argue that their sound and lighting systems are more advanced and provide higher quality production, however, advances in technology have allowed outside festivals to get close to the quality often experienced in an acoustically perfect venue.

Most music fans do recognise the value that a multi-day music festival ticket represents over alternative live music entertainment. The most popular festivals are still selling out as soon as tickets become available.

For festival organisers planning their events using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, cashless payments and contactless ordering. 

Photo by Wendy Wei via Pexels

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