Leisure time
Expensive festival summer: Higher costs, higher ticket prices
Visitors to the Lollapalooza Festival on the grounds of the Berlin Olympic Stadium. photo
© Britta Pedersen/dpa
For free and outdoors: there are festivals like this in many places. But if you want to see a lot of big bands, you have to spend a lot. Ticket prices are rising sharply. With consequences?
Music festival fans will have to dig deeper this summer. Due to rising costs, many organizers have raised ticket prices, some of them sharply. As a result, some people may be less likely to attend open-air spectacles this summer, or maybe skip them altogether, industry insiders say. Nevertheless, the big festivals are again expecting tens of thousands of revelers this year.
Stephan Benn from the cultural association Liveinitiative NRW estimates that ticket prices could have risen by around 30 percent on average. However, there is no precise overview. “The organizers are currently confronted with a number of additional costs,” he says. According to him, the higher wages, for example for technicians, security services and catering staff, have a particularly strong impact.
Energy, technology, fees
In addition, according to Bernd Schweinar from the Association for Pop Culture in Bavaria, there are rising costs for energy and technology as well as higher fees. Nevertheless, the organizers should not pass on all the increased costs to the customers, he demands. Because that’s bad for the industry. “The effect will be that increasingly expensive major concerts will reduce the budget, which concertgoers will then no longer have for smaller festivals and concerts.”
A ticket for three days of Rock im Park in Nuremberg, which will take place at the same time as its twin festival Rock am Ring in the Eifel next weekend, costs up to 300 euros. That’s about 70 euros more than last year. “We have price increases of 45 percent in many areas,” says spokeswoman Carolin Hilzinger. It is only possible to a limited extent to absorb this otherwise.
Compared to five years ago, the cost of living has risen by 30 percent – this also applies to ticket prices, adds Matt Schwarz from Rock am Ring organizer Dreamhaus. The day tickets, on the other hand, are cheaper than last year.
Are there fewer visitors?
Around 70 bands will play at the two rock festivals, including the likes of Die Toten Hosen, Kings of Leon and Foo Fighters. Nevertheless, fewer visitors could come than last year.
The organizers expect around 60,000 revelers at Rock im Park and more than 70,000 at Rock am Ring. Last year it was 75,000 and 90,000 respectively. Hilzinger cites a later advance sale start and the increased ticket prices in combination with the high cost of living as reasons. “People think about what they can afford privately.”
The heavy metal festival Wacken Open Air has also increased its prices: from 239 euros last year to 299 euros. However, the fans get four instead of three days of festival program. So far, the fourth day had to be purchased separately, as organizer Thomas Jensen says. Over 83,000 tickets were sold within five hours – the festival was sold out.
More spontaneous purchases
According to the organizer, Hurricane and the sister festival Southside, which take place simultaneously in Lower Saxony and Baden-Württemberg in mid-June, are also almost sold out. Compared to the previous year, the ticket prices rose by 30 euros and 10 euros respectively to 249 and 259 euros. This means that only a fraction of the additional costs are passed on to the guests, says spokesman Jonas Rohde.
The Lollapalooza in Berlin has increased ticket prices by 10 euros and has sold more tickets than at the same time last year. Since the festival will not be held until September, it is still too early to make a forecast, says spokeswoman Marlene Ryba. In any case, it is noticeable that visitors bought tickets more spontaneously than before the pandemic.