2015 / 2016 MARKET REPORT
/ MEET THE FESTIVAL-GOERS!
41%
Took advantage of an early bird ticket offer
/ AGE
0-17 5.5% 18-25 38.4% 26-30 13.7% 31-34 7.5%
37%
35-40 10.1%
50+ 10.6%
One 10%
45%
35%
20%
7% Earn £40,000+
Two 13.5%
25% Single
In a relationship
Earn less than £10,000
Married
Three 5.4%
Four+ 2.5%
/ FROM
Scotland - 3% Abroad - 13%
/ FESTIVAL-GOERS WITH CHILDREN
63%
41-50 13.7%
/ THEY BOUGHT THEIR FESTIVAL TICKETS...
25%
At the first opportunity Northern Ireland - 0.4% North East - 6% North West - 13% Republic of Ireland - 1%
When friends bought theirs
Midlands - 13% Wales - 3%
East Anglia - 5%
19%
After the headliners had been announced
London - 10% South West - 12%
17%
South East - 20%
13%
After seeing it advertised
Metal
Punk
Indie
/ WHERE DO THEY BUY MUSIC?
Jazz Folk
Blues
/ WHAT TYPES OF MUSIC DO THEY LIKE?
Rock
Reggae / ska
19% Buy physical formats on the high street
Classical World
House / techno
33% Buy physical
bie Am
Pop
formats online
nt
R&B
/ HOW MANY GIGS DO THEY ATTEND PER YEAR?
Hip hop
/ HOW MANY FESTIVALS DID THEY ATTEND THIS YEAR?
39% Use a streaming service
None - 15%
None - 2% 1-5 - 55%
1 - 34%
6-20 - 33%
2 - 26%
21-40 - 7%
3 - 15% 4+ - 10%
41+ - 2%
3% Don’t own any music
6% Torrent
/ FESTIVAL TICKET PRICES... Good value for money
20%
They’re about right
60%
Overpriced for what they deliver
20%
17% Of -26’s Torrent music
/ HOW FAR IN ADVANCE DID THEY BUY TICKETS? 11%
19%
33%
21%
8%
1 Year
9 Months
6 Months
3 Months
1 Month
82% of people
It’s an absolute disgrace and must be stopped!
I don’t approve, but if the demand’s there you can’t stop it
I don’t approve, and would support a campaign to cap the mark up on resold tickets
/ WHAT’S THEIR FAVOURITE TIPPLE?
/ OPINIONS ON SELECTION OF...
FOOD & DRINKS
50% 40%
34%
Of women drink cocktails
Of men drink lager
/ OPINIONS ON PRICES OF...
FOOD & DRINKS
Rip off!
20% 10% 0%
5%
A bit steep
30%
39%
5. Shots
Good value
4. Cocktails
It’s a great way to get tickets to sold out events
8%
About right
60%
3. Wine
I don’t have a problem with it; it’s a free market
22%
30%
2. Vodka
83% General admission 8% VIP 7% Working pass
What is the most popular ticket type?
32%
1. Cider
1 Week
16%
Only of people thought the artists profited most from ticket booking fees
thought ticketing companies profited most from ticket booking fees
What do you think of sold-out festival tickets being re-sold above their face value?
2%
Excellent
Ok
Poor
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Y FOR AYS TO PA BY W E IT R U O FAV AL, T A FESTIV M: A DRINK A HE T D O USE THOSE WH
BAR S AT O R E P O R E TA K ! NOTE
CASH SYSTEM 01 PAYMENT CASHLESS CARD IT D E CR 02 DEBIT OR SH / CARD) 03 GHT WITH CA OU (B EM ST SY 04 TOKEN
1. Free public Wi-Fi in the vicinity of the bar 2. Discounts on group orders (six or more drinks) 3. Phone charging facilities 4. The ability to pay with your debit / credit card 5. The ability to pay with funds loaded onto wristband 6. A wider selection of beers 7. A wider selection of cocktails 8. A wider selection of wines
63%
/ WHAT’S THEIR FAVOURITE FOOD?
4. Baguettes
AL SIZE OF F E I 00+ - 5% Less than 10 E S T 00 T H 750 -
5. Mexican
DE RI
IV
/
3. Wraps
AL
4% 2.
%
0 to 10000 - 28.6 % 100
50000 to 7500 014% 5.6 0 0 0
2. Burgers
10
36.7% travelled by car, shared with two or more other people
0
00 - 12% 200 0 0 200 to to 50
1. Pizza
Of festival-goers thought £4 was a fair price for a pint
00
/ THE TOP 8 IMPROVEMENTS ATTENDEES WOULD LIKE TO SEE ON OFFER:
22% travelled by train or coach
/ WHAT WOULD STOP THEM COMING BACK NEXT YEAR? None of them would put me off - 22.8%
A 5% increase in the ticket price - 24.2%
This is what festival-goers enjoy the most when attending festivals:
The music 62.3 %
Weather - 7.3% 5% increase in the price of alcohol - 5.3%
Change of venue -0.7% Less high profile headline artists - 18.5%
Hanging out with friends 21.2 % Meeting new people 7.9 %
Fewer acts / stages - 21.1%
Getting back to basics 2.8 % Getting smashed 2.5 %
/ THE HOME COMFORTS THEY MISS THE MOST
Limited choice of food or drink 1.8 %
Clean, flushable toilet 22.8 %
Unfriendly security 1.8 %
Bed 19 %
Bad organisation 2.2 %
Shower 9.5 % Phone charger 6.1 %
Inabilty to pay by card / lack of cashpoints 2.4 %
Decent mobile reception 5.9 %
Poor sound 2.9 %
Internet 3.6%
Restrictions on what you could bring 4.9 %
31.6% did not miss anything!
The price of tickets 5.6 % Having to walk long distances 6.6 %
/ HOW MANY OTHER PEOPLE WENT WITH THEM IN THEIR GROUP?
No showers / clean toilets 8.1 % The price of food & drink onsite 8.7 %
2.2%
None
13%
12.6%
14.8%
One
Two
Three
13.7%
7.5%
Four
Five
Queues and overcrowding 8.9 % Wet and muddy conditions 10.2 % Favourite bands clashing on the running order 15.2 %
7.5% 36% Six or more
And their biggest UK festival gripes:
/ HOW DID THE ECONOMIC CLIMATE IMPACT THEIR FESTIVAL PLANS? 6.5% attended a festival for a day rather than the full weekend
13.5% attended fewer UK festivals this year
1.6% attended fewer non-UK festivals this year
1.1% attended a free event instead to save money
6.9% delayed their decision on whether to attend any festivals
8.1% spent less on alcohol at festivals
61.5% their festival plans were not affected
/ HOW WAS THE WEATHER?
83.7% took their
tents home from the festival
Clear, hot weather 42.3 % Cloudy with sunny spells 59 % Overcast 25.1% Occasional light rain 33.6 % Occasional showers 32.2 %
Impression of the sponsored bar areas...
20.6%
Didn’t think it added to the overall bar experience
32.9% 2.5%
Torrential downpours 26.1%
44%
Didn’t really notice Felt it was obtrusive and out of place Didn’t visit
14.6%
have gone to festivals outside of the UK this year
Of those who went...
85.2%
28.5%
have never regretted a festival picture they posted on social media
MUCH PREFERRED IT
29.2%
THOUGHT IT WAS A BIT BETTER
20.1%
THOUGHT IT WAS NO DIFFERENT
10.3%
THOUGHT IT WASN’T AS GOOD
39.1%
0.5%
admitted to taking illicit drugs at a festival
THOUGHT IT WAS TERRIBLE
39.1% of festival-goers smoke
4.9%
COULDN’T COMMENT
What they liked about festivals abroad...
Better atmosphere
Better organisation
Cheaper food & drink
51.1% Portable charger
Better line-up
Cheaper tickets
Better weather 39.2% Didn’t care
5.1% Definitely not 19.4% I doubt it
16.3% Very satisfied
8.8% Fixed charging stall 11.2% Spare battery
42.1% Possibly
32.7% Satisfied
22.9% Other 6.0% Paid to rent a portable charger
How they charged their phones
5.6% Dissatisfied 6.3% Very dissatisfied
33.4% Definitely
Would recommend the charging service to a friend
Satisfaction with charging service
34.4% Definitely 5.0% Didn’t use
6.1% Non-existent
Mobile reception at the festival
7.4% Don’t care
Festival accommodation choices
Bought an artist branded T-shirt this year
Standard camping
How likely they would be to notice an advert for a festival on the following platforms‌
2.52% Radio
2.75% TV
2.09% Google
2.08% Website
1.76%
YouTube (Page)
NEWS
1.98%
Youtube (Video)
2.57%
Facebook (Phone)
2.67%
2.39%
Facebook (Desktop) Magazine / Newspaper
2.68%
Poster / Outdoor
Bought a festival branded T-shirt this year
Amount spent before each festival (excluding ticket)
Amount spent during each festival
Tokens
2.2% Someone else was responsible 23.6% Set budget and withdrew money when needed 35.9% Didn’t set an initial budget 38.4% Set budget & stuck to it
Cashless wristband / pre-loaded card
Credit or debit card Cash withdrawn at festival Cash withdrawn beforehand
46.1%
Don’t think that brand sponsorship improves their enjoyment of the festival
47.3%
Remember sponsors from the festivals they attended
Would consider paying for VIP accommodation again in the future
Felt that premium accommodation was good value for money
/ CONTACT Tom Lawson +44 (0)7752 114141 t.lawson@festivalawards.com
Moses Naaem +44 (0)7759 272313 m.naeem@mondiale.co.uk
Michael Baker +44 (0)798 280 7929 m.baker@mondiale.co.uk