The money
Revenue mixes ticketing, sponsorship and concessions, with traders often paying pitch fees or a percentage of sales. Bars can be highly profitable at volume but require huge logistics. Infrastructure costs for fencing, sanitation, power and security are large and front-loaded. Many festivals operate on thin margins and are vulnerable to weather and cancellation. Volunteers and charity partnerships often fill staffing gaps.
Numbers that matter
- Tickets sold
- attendance
- Bar spend per head
- drinks revenue per attendee
- Concession revenue
- food and trader income
- Infrastructure cost per attendee
- site build cost
- Sponsorship revenue
- brand partnership income
- Incident rate
- safety incidents
What keeps owners up
- Rising infrastructure and security costs
- Insurance and weather risk
- Artist fees inflation
- Volunteer and casual labour reliance
- Sustainability expectations
What we talk about
- Running a bar in a field
- Food traders' festival economics
- Volunteers: helping or replacing paid work
- Festival welfare and drug safety
- The crew who build a city in a week