Festivals
State of Play
28% are likely to mingle with their tent neighbours
Festivals bring together people from all walks of life.
An archway reading “Teenage Wasteland” leads into the Isle of Wight Festival. Pink sheep graze on fresh grass near the lakeside of Latitude Festival. A giant metal dog head watches over the spiritual home of rock at Download Festival.
All very different, but still much the same.
You see, whether packed with 10,000 or 80,000 people, held in a field or a warehouse, stacked with huge names or emerging talent – across all demographics, everyone loves a festival.
Following on from the 2012 study, our comprehensive 2019 State of Play research shows that festivals continue to attract new and diverse audiences.
Something about music and live entertainment fosters the spirit of community. As a result, festival-goers are almost equally split across genders. We discovered their average age is 37 and they come from all corners of the UK.
Plus, as festivals continue to increase in popularity, more people than ever are attending them. Almost half of respondents said they’ve been to one in their lifetime, with over a third having gone in the past three years.
While most people go with friends or their partner, festivals appeal to all generations. It’s not uncommon to see grandparents, parents and children alongside extended family at a festival. This is in part due to worlds of genre-spanning entertainment taking place on stage with countless activities from crafts and carnival rides to canoeing, yoga, campsite cookery, late-night DJs and much more going on, hour after hour, throughout the grounds.
With something for all ages and interests, festivals welcome everyone. Although we found a key barrier to attending is having no one to go with, for those who do go it alone, their solo savviness is sure to be replaced by super-sociability.
After all, festivals let people tap into their outgoing side – with more than a quarter of attendees admitting they’re more likely to pal around with their tent neighbours than their actual neighbours back home. Now that’s something.
Return to State of Play: Festivals
Header photo by Jordan Curtis Hughes/Wireless
