Festival Ticket Price Surge Causes Uproar in EDM Community

The recent increase in pricing for festival passes has left fans upset over the future of live music gatherings.

Festivals are a luxury, not a necessity. This fact alone gives event organizers the leverage to maximize profits, and that is exactly what has happened over the past two decades. Large concert gatherings went from being accessible to exclusive, and this recreational concept is now moving further and further away from including the general public.

The sad truth is that prices for popular forms of enjoyment rarely drop — we can live without them, but we’d rather not. The providers of such experiences have now pushed their luck to the point where music festivals that were originally marketed as sanctuaries for love and inclusivity now open their doors only to a select few. As lineups for major festivals in 2023 are now being announced, their attached prices are revealing a disappointing trend.

Take, for instance, Electric Forest. Their recent ticket sale came with some shocking developments, most notably the hike in prices for general admission passes. The base charge amounts to $552.90, with the Car Camping Pass being sold separately for $79.88 (these prices include fees). It is worth mentioning that both of these weren’t packaged separately in previous years, so the ensuing uproar is appropriate. In spite of all this, the tickets have sold out.

Another recent case, notorious for the same reason, is Suwannee Hulaween. With tickets recently having gone on sale, 4-day general admission passes were priced at $504.29 with fees whereas the now-sold-out car camping passes are marked at $100.50 face value. And it’s not as though the people putting on these festivals are oblivious to what’s going on; that’s precisely why they offer a payment plan wherein buyers can pay off their festival passes in installments each month!

Fans of the performing artists and potential festival attendees have expressed their discontent with the direction in which live events are headed. There is certainly money to be made from these gatherings, but it’s starting to feel as though our love for music is being taken advantage of.

Even though prices have been on the rise, Electric Forest and Suwannee Hulaween were a huge blow to those waiting to secure tickets. With the majority of next year’s festivals yet to be announced, we can only hope that they don’t let us down as the above two did.