What is it that attracts us to music festivals?
Is it the joy of soaking up the summer with friends or the “extra curriculars activities” that complements a weekend in a tent so well. Perhaps it is dreams of 60’s hedonism as you scarf down a £15 burger (another £4 for oven chips? Yes please) in front of the Shell Petrol stage.
For many though, the main attraction of music festivals is the perceived value for money. Or rather getting so so many bands, acts and artists for one low price. But is this actually true? And, more importantly, how will festivals be priced in the future?
Cast your minds back a quarter of a centaury to the summer of 2000, and what would for many be best line up in the history of Reading and Leeds.
Despite Britpop being firmly in the middle of its death rattle, headliners were Pulp, Oasis and Stereophonics. Further down the bill, future stadium headliners included Rage Against the Machine, Blink 182, Foo Fighters, Limp Bizkit, Muse and the list, truly does, go on. The comedy stage was even headlined by Peter Kay.
And what was the whopping cost for this almighty line-up? £80 for the weekend if booked in advance, or approximately £152 in 2025.
Lets jump to the modern day.
Headliners for this years Reading and Leeds were an eclectic mix (we’ll get on to that) and were comprised of: Hozier, Chappell Roan, Bring Me the Horizon, Limp Bizkit, D Block Europe and Travis Scott (blink and you miss him if you’re at Leeds).
The cost for this line-up? Starting at £325 for the weekend. More than double the price even when adjusted for inflation.
Now, for a line-up that offered the across the board quality of 2000, this could be almost a reasonable asking price. But bar Chappell Roan and Travis Scott, who are you paying for with this price hike? And punters seemed to vote with their feet, as many festival attendees described this years events as one of the quietest they had ever seen.
So what’s the alternative? What can festivals do to bring eyes back to their events. Reading and Leeds seem to believe the answer lies with-in a 1-day event formula.
When looking at this years festival line-up it becomes clear that each day was designed to fit a particular genre: Travis Scott, D-Block Europe and Trippie Red one night. Chappell Roan, Hozier and Block Party another, and Limp Bizkit, Bring Me the Horizon and Enter Shakari closed out the weekend. Day tickets this year cost £125, which is in the same ball park as a stadium gig which these headliners could all certainly play.
This is, seemingly, a much better offer. When Chappell Roan played Edinbrugh a few days after the event a standard entry ticket would set you back, £72 before fees. For only an extra £50 you could see a vast array of other artists, perhaps even discover a few new ones.
But here’s where the masterplan seemingly falls down.
In the current financial climate £50 is a not a small chunk of change, and an amount that most people cannot freely part with on the off chance they gel with a new band they discover. The organisers may say that rising ticket costs is because the events are getting more expensive to put on, but life is getting more expensive for your average person and it’s a tall order asking people to part with more cash when, bar the headliners, the line-up simply doesn’t justify the overall cost.
I am well aware that prices for events will only go one way. As these festivals get further and further away from their roots and embrace the big bad world of corporate sponsorship, the consumer becomes less and less of a factor. Which is to be expected, but they cannot be surprised when more and more festivals shrink in size before they disappear completely. A rite of passage lost.
The spirit of Woodstock has long been dead, you will never ever get another festival that was as bang-for-your-buck as Reading and Leeds 2000.
Instead prices will go up, value for money will completely disappear and one of this countries best cultural touchstones will be lost.
WORDS BY TOM DIBB
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