Looks like there might be more room for dancing next year at your favorite UK music festival according to a report by YouGov SixthSense. The online market research agency states that 54% of UK festival-goers surveyed don’t plan on going on attending a fest in 2013. The reasons include over-crowding (37%), too expensive (35%), poor weather/muddy fields (18%), and some fans are just going to take a vacation instead (22%).
YouGov SixthSense Research Director James McCoy said:
“Our study suggests there is declining interest in attending music festivals that tend to span more than one day. Part of this is due to people having less money to spend, but many of the festival-goers we surveyed were turned off by poor weather and long queues. In contrast, our research indicates that a majority of those who attend live music concerts are not put off by the recession, and will continue going to gigs in 2013. This could be down to the fact that a single gig is much less of a commitment, both in terms of time and money, than going to a festival.”
The UK festival scene has taken some hits in the last couple years. Some thirty-odd events were cancelled in 2011, and this year saw even more of the bigger festivals (Sonisphere, The Big Chill) pulling up stakes. The economy is certainly to blame, but there’s also the specter of over-saturation in the UK market.
See more of the YouGov SixthSense report here.