Mass number of music festival cancellations is proving bigger isn't always better: Matt Cheshire

The number of music festivals cancelled, postponed or closed for good reached 50 this year, according to the Association of Independent Festivals, meaning the overall total since 2019 is 182. It is not a surprise as those of us working in the industry felt the impending crisis.

Organisers are still trying to recover from the pandemic and unpredictable rising costs and changes in ticket-buying habits mean they can’t afford to continue.

We have seen a shift and now a huge percentage of festival goers hold off on buying their tickets until the week before an event.

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However, I’m pleased to say we must be bucking a trend because, by the end of September, it will be our best season ever. I run the Needs Group, and celebrating 25 years in business this year we’re the most comprehensive provider for artist needs in the world and offer a plethora of services to the live events industry.

Matt Cheshire shares his expert insightMatt Cheshire shares his expert insight
Matt Cheshire shares his expert insight

This summer our core team of five inflated to 60 employees and we look to be having our best year ever.

I think we’ve weathered the storm because of the diversity of the festival genres and the fact that the majority of show sizes are capped at 6,000 people that has helped.

In contrast, the larger ones of 25,000-plus which have large lineups and spiralling infrastructure costs from the start find it very hard to get anywhere near breaking even on costs.

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We also work on family festivals which attract older audiences who are still going to festivals and gigs. They are still buying tickets and still spending at the bars.

It seems to be the younger generations that are negatively impacted.

Even if they can afford a ticket, they don’t have the surplus cash to spend at the bars or stalls. It’s a shame because going to festivals and gigs is a really formative part of your younger years. And that will affect the future, it’s a ticking timebomb for the industry.

The bigger gigs also come with a huge security risk as we have seen recently with the unfortunate incident with Taylor Swift having to cancel some of her gigs.

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I think what’s also helped is that we’ve diversified our services and for example one of our sister companies, Aviation Needs, a Yorkshire-based company, provides private jets and helicopters for people who want personal bespoke service. In this arena, we’ve seen huge growth and this summer during the Euros, we flew the families of the England players around to visit their loved ones in Germany.

As the events and aviation markets continue to grow, so does our range of furniture in which we provide everything from VIP areas to backstage dressing rooms for live events. We house all our stock of furniture in a warehouse in Leeds before it is shipped around the UK as and when it’s needed.

I’m proud that the events side continues to thrive for us but the industry as a whole needs help. We’ve diversified, focused on family festivals and gigs and had our best year to date but others have not been as fortunate.

If we don’t act now, more live events will be cancelled which means future generations will not have the joy of attending live music like we have.

Matt Cheshire runs The Needs Group

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