As the live event industry remains ultimately halted, Festicket surveyed over 110,000 festival-goers to find out how comfortable they’d be returning to live events following the coronavirus pandemic.
Out of those surveyed across the U.K., France, Germany, and the Netherlands, 82% of respondents said they would feel comfortable attending a festival within one to six months of lockdown being lifted. Out of those comfortable, 66% said they would attend a festival within one to three months, with 30% ready to attend an event immediately. While people would feel most comfortable returning to a day festival, just under 70% said they’d attend a weekend festival.
Right now, there are plenty of festivals that have already rescheduled to 2021. Most of the respondents believe that the 2021 festival season will be unaffected, and 75% said they’d feel confident booking a trip next year over the next two months. Additionally, festivalgoers are happy to go abroad; nearly 60% said they would attend both a domestic and international music event next year.
More than 80% of those surveyed said that cancellation would be a key factor when determining whether or not to book a future event. Festicket has introduced its FlexTicket initiative, which offers festivalgoers peace of mind with a “no questions asked” cancellation period.
Festicket Marketing Director Luis Sousa said that despite the uncertainty across the live event industry, he’s happy to see that festivalgoers are feeling positive about booking an event next year.
“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,” Sousa said in a press release. “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.”
When festivals do return, they won’t look the same. Different measures will still need to be implemented to ensure safe operations, including sanitizing stations and overall reduced capacity. Nonetheless, festivalgoers are prepared to gear up for a new festival season in 2021.
See Festicket’s infographic below.
