Festival Fatigue?

Hands up, how many of you have already penciled in a visit to a live arts festival this summer?

My own festival tastes are rather predictable and safe; I usually book myself a week on the Edinburgh Fringe and this year is no exception. I can think of nothing better than five days and nights soaking up the atmosphere of the Fringe and taking in as many comedy shows as I can together with some fringe theatre, the marvellous book festival at Charlotte Square and the chance to run around Arthur’s Seat in the morning and take in the Scottish Borders on the way home.

For many a live event is infinitely preferable to a music download and there seems to have been an explosion in late spring and summer festivals in the UK over recent years. It seems that a town or city is barely worth the name unless they put out the bunting at some point in the year and launch a festival and perhaps a fringe!

But has the market over-supplied? Glastonbury has still not managed to shift all of their tickets and there are signs elsewhere that the credit crunch, poor weather and the high price of tickets is having an effect on market demand. A leader article in the Independent yesterday focused on the issue and suggested that spare capacity in the festival market will be around for some time to come:

“There are too many festivals for the market to support, with dozens of new ones seeming to emerge each summer. And now the sector has hit an economic – and, some would argue, creative – downturn. Actually, some growth is in response to the commercialisation of large festivals; thus, we have events such as Furnessfest in Cumbria, and Two Thousand Trees in Cheltenham, which eschew corporate sponsorship and make a virtue of their relative modesty of scale. In the end, the market will correct itself. The UK has a flourishing live music scene and festivals have become an extension of that. A few showers might be on the horizon, but there is no reason why music fans should not enjoy a long, hot summer.”