Splendour In The Grass 2016 / Photo: Maria Boyadgis

“Hardcore Festies” Are Fuelling Australia’s Music Festival Market, Study Finds

A new study has shed light on festival demographics with some potentially unexpected results regarding festival attendance revealed.

A study conducted by Eventbrite in collaboration with MusicWatch revealed that 49 per cent of Aussies surveyed are planning on attending more festivals in 2017 than they did this year, largely debunking the perception that the cancellation of festivals such as Big Day Out and Stereosonic were due to the dying interest in festivals.

The study also found that the key punters driving festival growth in the industry are those who attend multiple festivals every year – dubbed as “hardcore festies”. These festival goers drive the lion’s share of festival business in the country despite only making up 14 per cent of all festival goers.

Despite only making up 14 per cent of all festival goers, hardcore festies are spending more on tickets than everyone else as they’re more likely to upgrade to VIP. Also, the number one reason they attend festivals is for the headliners.

The hardcore festie;

  • Spend $600 more than casual fans on festival tickets
  • Are 59 per cent male
  • Has an average income of 75K+ a year
  • Has an average age of 31-years old
  • Attends 4 or more festivals every year
  • One in four hardcore festie say they’ll typically purchase a VIP ticket
  • Are 71 per cent more likely to post on social media at a festival
  • 49 per cent have learnt about a festival from a friend or family’s post on social media
  • 40 per cent have travelled outside their home state for a festival
  • 16 per cent have left Australia to attend a festival
  • Are more likely to have attended Stereosonic than any other festival
  • Coachella is in their top 10 most attended festivals

When these hardcore festies were asked why they’re attending multiple festivals every year, 52 per cent reasoned that the lineups are more appealing than they used to be, while 42 per cent simply said it was “more fun that it used to be.”

Watch: triple j’s Splendour In The Grass Highlights 2016

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