Festival Attendance Figures

[sloaney007]

With festival attendance figures dropping throughout the uk can anyone suggest why kc is bucking the trend. I know kc is a great festival, imo one of the best around, however it seems to be attracting more and more newbys where bigger festivals (Glastonbury excluded) seem to be failing. Also with tickets selling out in record time is anyone else worried the capacity for next year will again increase and the friendly, local feel of kc will be lost amongst corporate mediocrity. Just wanted to start a bit of discussion really as I'm bored of seeing the same old topics on here.

Sloaney.

[bottonrob]

pretty sure that they're capped with the attendance at 20k. however the early sell out this year irrespective of when ticket sales started will mean more of a scrum next year I'd guess.I wouldn't be too worried about it going too corporate, have read a few things and listened to interviews with the chaps who run it and they don't come across as doing it to max profits etc

[Emandjay]

The line up has got to make a difference. The organisers said KC old out last year but tickets were still on sale a week before the festival. There are people like me who will buy tickets before the line up is announced but it hasn't got to the stage where its reputation alone will ensure a sell out.

My other favorite festival, Beautiful Days, sells out every year. It doesn't need to advertise or do any promotion at all. It is just a very well run and loved festival.The line up (in my opinion) is better at KC but BD always sells out faster and has a larger capacity.

Festivals like V are mainly aimed at the young and so have a smaller target audience. My nephews and nieces started going at 14 and had grown out of it by the time they went to Uni. If this age group can't afford the tickets or the over priced bar prices then ticket sales will suffer.

[jamj]

Alot of our friends have started to ask us about KC and we know quite a lot of newbies going this year, for me...I think word of mouth has a lot to do with it - especially amongst the younger crowd who can afford the ticket as opposed to say Glasto or Ibiza Rocks etc, plus the fact that it is billed as 'family friendly' for the older crowd who can then bring their kids along whereas they maybe wouldn't to some other bigger festivals like V, Titp etc.

I thought that 2013 seemed to have alot more youngsters falling around drunk and spewing all over the place than 2012 (or had I forgotten?). One lass actually hung off my arm crying and pleading for a drink of my cider....security had to actually peel her off! and being a pro I didn't spill a drop ha!

KC is probably the biggest festival we do - it takes us a week to recover so god help us with anything bigger

[sloaney007]

I agree that there seemed to be a lot more of the younger crowd last year. I'm guessing like emandjay says it has a lot to do with the lineup, although I also get the feeling the youngsters around Cumbria use it as a cheap alternative to going abroad.

Personally I think the likes of v and Leeds have priced themselves out of the market with ticket prices. ATM a lot of people don't have a spare 500 quid plus for a weekend in a tent.

As far as kc is concerned I understand that the current cap is 20k and I think I also heard that we are currently only at around 15k which seems about right. I do worry that an extra couple of thousand could shift the balance between younger and older festival goers and we could end up with a mini v festival, which wouldn't appeal to me at all. Although all of this is purely speculation on my part.

I guess my point is the why fix what isn't broken.

[stinkywhimp]

Our first KC, going course of word of mouth and I'm 45 .

Am I classed as the younger lot :-) and you lot are REALLY OLD :-)

[SloopJohnB]

Perhaps one factor to consider when looking at the sell out in record time is the lack of local alternatives. Both Cock Rock and Solfest are not taking place this year so perhaps some festival goers who attend either of those decided to opt for KC this year.?