After weeks of debate about what post-quarantine live music will look like and if fans will even be comfortable attending shows once lockdowns are lifted, today, we have some positive news for the live music industry:
Around 82% of music fans “would feel confident” attending a festival within one to six months after the COVID-19 lockdown ends.
Furthermore, within that group, 66% would feel confident enough to attend within one to three months, while 30% would happily do so immediately after lockdown is lifted.
That’s according to a report published by UK-born festival ticket and travel booking platform Festicket, which surveyed over 110,000 festival-goers from countries such as the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
Day festivals topped the list of events respondents indicated that they are happy to return to first once lockdown is lifted but around 70% said they’d also happily go to a weekend festival.
Meanwhile, 59.5% of people said they would feel confident attending music events in their own country and globally in 2021.
Additionally, 75% of festival-goers are confident that 2021’s season will be unaffected and that they’d feel confident booking tickets for 2021 events within the next two months.
Similarly, festival-goers believe they’ll still spend big on their future festival trips, with 34% saying they’ll spend between €250-€500, while another 24% said they’ll spend more than €500.
The survey also found that festival-goers expect live events to introduce safety measures such as hand sanitizing stations, operating at a reduced capacity, and offering free cancellation on tickets.
Over 82% of festival-goers said that free cancellation would be a key consideration when booking future events.
“Despite all the current uncertainty, it’s reassuring to see a high percentage of festival-goers have a positive outlook for the live events industry.”
Luis Sousa, Festicket
Festicket Marketing Director Luis Sousa, said: “Despite all the current uncertainty, it’s reassuring to see a high percentage of festival-goers have a positive outlook for the live events industry, backed up by over 75% saying they’d feel comfortable booking events for 2021.
“Unsurprisingly, we are of course entering the beginning of a ‘new normal’ for events where festival-goers – in the short term at least – will expect promoters and venues to adapt their offering to ease anxieties.
“We’ve already seen this in some venues that have begun opening their doors again, with measures such as reduced capacity and compulsory table service being part of the deal of reopening.”
Last February, Festicket secured funding of $4.6 million from Edge Investments, which followed the $10.5m series D funding round it closed in 2018, led by transatlantic venture capital firm Beringea.
Picture credit: Hanny NaibahoMusic Business Worldwide
