The festival summer 2023 is coming up. Rock am Ring and Rock im Park have ushered in the season. But prices have risen enormously in some cases. Why?
Bremen – Secure your place, set up your tent, open a can of beer – and the festival fun can begin. A ritual that many concertgoers would like to cultivate again in the summer of 2023. The twin festivals Rock am Ring (RaR) and Rock im Park (RiP) kicked off this year's festival season on the first weekend in June. Even though the crowd is piling up in front of the stages, especially among the headliners, fewer tickets were sold than last year.
There are reasons for this – and this is mainly due to ticket prices, some of which have risen sharply. This increase, in turn, has its reasons and is sometimes harshly criticized in the social networks. Cross-festival, of course. Because the Hurricane Festival or the Wacken Open Air have also continued to raise their prices. It's time to investigate the causes – and give an overview.
Will the big festivals in Germany like Hurricane be similarly crowded in 2023? After all, ticket prices were sometimes increased by up to 70 euros. © Hauke-Christian Dittrich/dpa/imago/Montage
Festival summer 2023: Rock am Ring, Hurricane Festival and Wacken Open Air increase ticket prices
"The organizers are currently confronted with a number of additional costs," Stephan Benn of the cultural association Liveinitiative NRW told tagesschau.de. Ticket prices may have risen by about 30 percent on average. For example, the costs for technicians, security services and catering staff are particularly significant – and are ultimately passed on to festival visitors.
The effect will be that more and more expensive large-scale concerts will reduce the budget that concertgoers will no longer have for smaller festivals and concerts.
Bernd Schweinar of the Association for Pop Culture in Bavaria told tagesschau.de.
Not to be neglected, however, are the rising costs for energy and technology as well as higher fees, notes Bernd Schweinar of the Association for Pop Culture in Bavaria. However, passing on all costs to customers cannot be the right step either. "The effect will be that ever more expensive large-scale concerts will reduce the budget that concertgoers will no longer have for smaller festivals and concerts," Schweinar said in an interview with tagesschau.de. So will festivals in the summer of 2023 be significantly less frequented than in previous years?
Rock am Ring, Hurricane Festival, Wacken Open Air: What festivals cost in 2023
The fact is: The "Weekend Festival Ticket – General Camping" for this year's edition of Rock im Park costs 298 euros. If you want to take Rock am Ring with you, including parking and camping, you have to buy two tickets - and ultimately you will also end up with almost 300 euros. For RiP you have to pay about 70 euros more than last year. Spokeswoman Carolin Hilzinger lists "price increases of 45 percent in many areas".
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- Rock am Ring: Weekend Festival Ticket for 229 euros; General Camping / Parking Ticket costs an additional 69 euros
- Rock im Park: Weekend Festival Ticket – General Camping für 298 Euro
- Hurricane Festival: Festival Pass Regular or Hurricane Park for 249 euros (4th prize level)
- Southside Festival: Festival Pass Green Living or Regular for 259 euros (4th prize level)
- Wacken Open Air: 299 Euro for the first four days festival program (sold out)
- Deichbrand Festival: Combined ticket incl. early arrival for 199 euros (without early arrival for 189 euros)
It is only possible to absorb the price increases to a limited extent in any other way. The cost of living has risen by 30 percent compared to five years ago, and this also applies to ticket prices, according to Matt Schwarz of Rock am Ring organizer Dreamhaus. The organizers of the festival at the Nürburgring would expect about 70,000 visitors, there would be around 20,000 festival-goers than in 2022. Rock im Park is expecting 60,000 visitors - 15,000 fewer than last year.
Tickets for Wacken Open Air 2023 are 60 euros more expensive – and still sold out within five hours
At Hurricane and its sister festival Southside, ticket prices have risen by 30 and ten euros respectively to 249 and 259 euros respectively compared to the previous year. According to spokesman Jonas Rohe, only a fraction of the additional costs will be passed on to visitors.
The Wacken Open Air has had to increase its ticket prices by 2022 euros compared to 60. Nevertheless, the heavy metal festival was sold out within a few hours. © Frank Molter/dpa/Archivbild
The heavy metal festival Wacken Open Air has also raised its prices significantly. Here, ticket prices were raised from 239 to 299 euros. Nevertheless, the festival has long been sold out. According to organizer Thomas Jensen, 83,000 tickets went over the digital counter within five hours. Will this also be the case in the future, with possible further price increases? Speculative.
From "absolute mess" to "ridiculous 70 euros more": Social media reactions at higher ticker prices of festivals
On social media, the additional costs for festival tickets are not always well appreciated. An example? "Absolute mess," it says in reference to the increases under a posting by Rock am Ring. Sometimes there is talk of a "brazen pricing policy", sometimes the increase is described as "simply bottomless".
However, there is also understanding for the festival organizers and their increased costs in almost all areas, which ultimately also affect the ticket price. "For two years, nothing has been received by the participants, including the organizers, all those involved in the project, but also the bands. The economic damage is high," says a festival visitor via Instagram. He speaks of "a paltry 70 euros more" and would have "a great time for 3-4 days". (han/dpa)