UK festivals face ‘really tough’ year due to fewer headline acts and rising costs
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Stars must now be booked so far in advance for events that organisers can only guess who will sell tickets in two years’ time. Nobody in 2023 would have guessed that Sabrina Carpenter or Chappell Roan would be festival headliners in 2025, or that the Foo Fighters’ rumoured summer tour would not go ahead after Dave Grohl became the father of a baby girl born “outside of [his] marriage”.
![[Chappell Roan in concert, wearing a red basque.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/dfd513d29a93d1c00e72d7936258af0f503e0b67/0_0_6048_3629/master/6048.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
But despite the unpredictable side of the music industry, live events are being organised further and further in advance. Top music venues are now booking two years ahead, locking in acts for 2027, and festivals are rushing to announce lineups earlier than ever. With a shortage of headliners and tours increasingly expensive to run, hot new artists are already being scouted out for 2026, and the industry is changing the way it operates.
![[Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters on stage at the London Stadium in 2024]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/9699ba7ad08f265252986f5495053c6ca6c24fc0/714_162_2873_2916/master/2873.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
“It’s definitely all happening more in advance,” said Finlay Johnson from the Association for Electronic Music. “We’re seeing a trend of festivals booking acts earlier. Primavera Sound in Barcelona announced its lineup in October, and it takes place in June this year, which means negotiations would have started before their last festival even happened. Others have followed suit. Partly, they want tickets to be on sale for as long as possible, but they also want to secure headliners as there are fewer acts available.”.
![[Adele on stage in a black dress at London’s Hyde Park]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/fd33a0ecbaa1a077fd9b171312dbcca2bb6a4264/0_140_4948_3658/master/4948.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Few musicians are capable of drawing a broad cross-section of fans. “People seem to be buying tickets based on name recognition,” said Kelly Wood, national organiser for live performance at the Musicians’ Union. In turn, mid-level artists who in the past might have significantly contributed to a festival’s sales are now “really struggling”.
![[Abigail Morris of The Last Dinner Party on stage in a blue dress]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/5d0aaf25a4190820ebc446ca6fb21165fc9a3ce6/0_309_4928_2957/master/4928.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
