Fes­ti­vals 2025/2026 - 'Ab­dan­ken mit An­sa­ge?'

For some, it is market consolidation. For others, however, it is the result of unequal competition between powerful concert corporations and small-scale concert companies with limited liability. The decline in audience numbers for these festivals is exacerbated by superstar shows with exorbitantly expensive ticket prices and changing audience preferences for the leisure activity of “festivals” across a wide range of target groups. Added to this are substantial increases in production and performance fees.

The consequences: performance opportunities for small and medium-sized acts are dwindling, hitting independent concert agencies all the harder. In return, the market power of concert corporations is growing. In the diaspora of bourgeois cultural policy, on the other hand, there is often a lack of understanding for anything to do with pop culture at all levels compared to theatre, film and classical music. So now that Maifeld Derby, Juicy Beats and Rocco Del Schlacko are calling it quits, the question remains as to how things can and will continue in the future. How and where can politics help, what kind of support do the players need, and which festival concepts still offer prospects for success in the intensified competition between large and small players?