Future Growth Opportunities for the Music Festival Sector.

It has been a troubling few years for the music festival sector in Europe and the United States with media reports suggesting numerous festival entities closing their doors for good. For investors and those working in the sector where are the growth opportunities in the coming years coming from?

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic followed by economic woes and a rapidly falling disposable income in many countries has been devastating for the entire live music events industry over the last four years. Rising costs and falling ticket sales have forced many operators to re-think their futures, either ceasing trading or changing formats to biennial or reduced size events. It’s not all doom and gloom however, there are markets that are experiencing rapid growth now and into the future with new sizeable festivals quickly selling out. Where should investors and music festival professionals look for their next opportunity? 

Asia- Pacific. 
With a growing affluent population across the entire region expenditure on entertainment is growing and combined with an interest in diverse music genres the music festival format is expanding throughout the Asia-Pacific region. This is particularly true for countries like China (Modern Sky Festival and Strawberry Music Festival), India (Sunburn and Enchanted Valley Carnival) and South Korea. Meanwhile Southeast Asia is seemingly booming with Thailand leading the way (Wonderfruit, Tomorrowland Asia and Electric Daisy Carnival) all scheduled to take place in 2025 with significant attendance numbers. 

Latin America. 
Despite political and economic woes this region continues to grow its music festival sector especially in countries like Brazil (Rock in Rio and Lollapalooza Brazil), Mexico (Corona Capital and Pal' Norte) and Argentina (Lollapalooza Argentina and Buenos Aires Festival). The population has historically had a keen interest in live music and carnivals, and this is making it easier for operators to attract sizeable audiences for formal music festivals. 

Europe. 
Whilst many long-standing music festivals have been suffering in recent years there has been significant growth in Eastern and Southern Europe. These regions have populations that have traditionally not been exposed to large music festivals and new festival experiences are attracting much interest, Countries like Poland (Open'er), Hungary (Sziget), Spain (Primavera Sound) and Italy (Rock in Roma) are all in the ascendancy. 

UK and United States. 
Although media reports suggest that the music festival sector is in crisis in the UK and parts of the United States this is perhaps an oversimplification. Rising costs and lower ticket sales have impacted on many festivals forcing organisers to call it quits. However, there are still new events being announced in 2024 and beyond. Organisers that have changed their format or shifted focus to specific music genres have been relatively successful in re-inventing themselves. Overall, these countries are likely to see moderate growth over the coming years. 

The Future. 
Long running festivals have been hit the hardest in recent times and will certainly need to rethink their formats and music genre selection. Organisers need to constantly update their understanding of trends that are driving festival-goer attendance. According to research by Cognitive Market Research the growth rate to 2031 for North America will be CAGR 22%, Asia-Pacific will experience CAGR of 26% and Latin America CAGR 23.4%. 

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.

Image by Alexander Nadrilyanski via Pexels

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