Leadership / 07.11.19

'This Business Deserves Better': How to and How Not to Do a Festival in 2019

Access Staff

Pollstar (07/05/19) Gottfried, Gideon

Recent Belgian music festivals offer object lessons on the right way and wrong way to hold such events, with the 44th Rock Werchter festival an example of the former. Rock Werchter combined a strong lineup of talent, state-of-the-art production, and amenities like sun shelters and free water to cope with hot weather. "There was more demand for day-tickets, so we increased their number and lowered the combi tickets with the result that in the end we sold to 160,000 individuals," noted Live Nation Belgium CEO Herman Schueremans. By contrast, the Vestiville festival was a fiasco. One day before the event was scheduled to start, its organizers announced that the mayor of the town of Lommel canceled the festival, because "the safety of the artist and the public could not be guaranteed." Attendees complained of improperly set-up campsites, and Schueremans said the Vestiville cancellation was anticipated. He recommended that in organizing an event, "you should first find the right location for the short term and the long term, so you plant it in good soil. Then you water it well, then you tailor it well, and every year the tree will get bigger."

Read the full article on Pollstar. 

Tags: Music , News , Venues