Festival Economics

While many of the largest festivals have been reporting robust ticket sales despite the poor economy, mid-sized festivals may be facing a more challenging environment if the Strawberry Music Festivals are an indication.

For the first time in at least seven years, Strawberry Spring, running this Memorial Day weekend at Camp Mather CA near Yosemite National Park, will not sell out before the gates open on Thursday, May 21. The festival announced today that weekend passes, though not daily passes, will be available for purchase at the gate.

That is a notable turnaround from recent years when all tickets have sold out in middle to late March. Usually, by this time in the cycle, there has been a lively secondary market of people seeking resale tickets. Also, tickets for the Fall festival, held Labor Day weekend at Camp Mather, have been sold out by May 6 or earlier each year since 2004. Tickets remain available at the Strawberry Music Festival site for both festivals.

TicketNews is reporting that live music powerhouses Live Nation and Ticketmaster Entertainment are in merger talks. If the deal comes to pass, it could have major impacts on how live music is delivered to consumers. Read more:

From the horse's mouth:

For Immediate Release
LANGERADO 2009 CANCELLED

Today, the 2009 Langerado Music Festival is cancelled due to sluggish ticket sales.  The 7th annual event was slated to happen March 6-8 at their new home in downtown Miami's Bicentennial Park.

Festival Network chairman Chris Shields confirmed in a statement to The Boston Globe that it is "in belt-tightening mode," and that it is "not focused on the robust expansion plans of '07 and much of '08, but rather honing our core festivals."

That sounds like a death sentence, at least for 2009, for the two new "destination" festivals the company produced last year in Jackson Hole WY and Whistler BC. But it eases concerns that the Newport jazz and folk festivals could be in trouble. According to the Globe's reporting, the company is in arrears to the State of Rhode Island for its 2008 lease of Fort Adams State Park, where the two Newport festivals are held on consecutive weekends.

Friday marked an important landmark for Spoleto Festival USA as opening week ticket sales were up 17% from opening week in 2006. Spoleto Director Nigel Redden finds sales reassuring, while admitting the festival has a long way to go.

Festival officials are uncertain as to what sparked the increase in sales, but it is not uncommon for early heightened ticket interest to set the stage for the rest of the season. To give an idea of the financial situation, the current goal for Spoleto is to generate $2.9 million in ticket sales in 2009 and the festival made $160,000 its first week. (Whereas last year left Spoleto $372,000 in the red.) We at Festival Preview are keeping our fingers crossed.

If you would like to purchase tickets or make a donation to Spoleto Festival USA, visit their web site.

The Boston Globe cites lack of "corporate sponsors" as a cause, but as one who has been close to the festival for the past seven years, as well as in tune with WUMB's format changes (from roots and folk to AAA), I suspect other factors are at work.

For the last few years the festival has been on the decline, shrinking from two days to one, creating an unfriendly "us and them" vibe by catering to "VIP's" with private concerts and providing high backed chairs down front, eliminating the dance stage two years ago and the workshop and busker stages last year), a scarcity of vendors, running the main stage as a workshop stage, and following the Duncan Donuts Festival's lead by headlining country and pop artists in place of folk artists.

News of the Boston Folk Festival's demise reached me via Google alert at 2:12am that "hit" this Boston Globe gossip column story.