The BusinessSince 29 October, passes for Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Ultra and two other festivals ticketed by Front Gate can be resold on CashorTrade at no more than the buyer paid. No law obliges it, and the company setting the cap is the one a jury found to be a monopolist.
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Latest edition · No. 4
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On the Calendar
General admission for 23 to 27 June 2027 went on sale at 9am on Sunday 4 October and was gone by 9.45am. The next real date for anyone without a ticket is the spring resale.
The Americas
The 25th Austin City Limits Music Festival closed on 11 October after a rain-soaked first weekend and a dusty second. Three of its five headliners had topped Lollapalooza in Chicago two months earlier.
The Business
Second-quarter revenue rose 9% to $7.67 billion on 49 million fans, yet a $450 million legal charge cut six-month operating income by 75%. Almost six months after the monopoly verdict, the judge has not ruled on whether it stands.
Festival Reports
The tenth-anniversary edition drew 215,000 people over four days, according to the organisers, against 162,000 over three in 2025. The crowd per day barely changed. The growth was the extra night.
Festival Reports
The 24th edition closed with 287,000 attendees according to the organisers, 6,000 fewer than the 2025 record, after a storm wiped out Thursday's biggest sets. The way the tickets were sold explains why the damage stopped there.
Festival Reports
The Paris festival's five days at Saint-Cloud drew a reported 175,000 people, against 150,000 in 2025, on a bill that gave three of its five nights to rock and closed with a sold-out Sunday for The Cure.
On the Calendar
The Barcelona festival announced 151 acts for 2 to 6 June 2027 on 5 October and opened general sale four days later at €350 plus fees. Registered fans paid €295.
On the Calendar
Pitchfork Paris and London, Le Guess Who? in Utrecht and Iceland Airwaves in Reykjavík all fall between 2 and 8 November 2026, and their published bills overlap act by act.
On the Calendar
Six months before 9 to 11 and 16 to 18 April 2027, the festival's site says advance sale passes are no longer available. It has not announced a single act.
The Business
With Worthy Farm resting, the UK summer of 2026 saw a 69,999-capacity newcomer from AEG, a Reading and Leeds that claimed more than half a million attendees, and independent festivals still falling for lack of ticket sales. Then Glastonbury 2027 sold out in 42 minutes.
The Business
The owner of more than 80 festival brands reported a 2025 after-tax loss of €115.5 million on revenue of €825.1 million and added €109 million of debt. Its 2026 has been spent on new management and a written promise to artists.
The Business
The UK's Draft Ticket Tout Ban Bill was announced on 13 May 2026 and has still not been published. Vermont capped resale at 110% of face value in May, Washington DC passed a 10% cap in July, and Brussels has said it will not ban dynamic pricing.
Showcases
The 21st edition closed on 19 September with about 45,000 visitors and 5,500 professionals from 52 nations, according to the organisers, weeks after Berlin planned a federal grant of 3 million euros for 2027.
Showcases
BIME runs in Bilbao from 27 to 30 October and ESNS in Groningen from 13 to 16 January 2027. This year the two have announced an alliance, and ESNS is giving professionals a first look before the public.
Showcases
The 27th Iceland Airwaves runs from 5 to 7 November across seven official venues, with about a hundred acts, nearly half of them Icelandic, and Harpa kept for three separately ticketed concerts on either side.
Electronic
The 20th edition drew 400,000 people over two July weekends, in line with previous years, while its livestream reached a record 233 million views, according to the promoters.
Electronic
Two days after Amsterdam Dance Event closed, the only crowd figure in circulation is a mid-week estimate of roughly 600,000. The number ADE did publish is what a club night costs: 1.3 hours of minimum-wage work in Amsterdam, about 25 in Lagos.
Electronic
ADE opens on 21 October with more than 3,600 artists at 1,300 events in over 300 venues, by the organisers' count, and a conference agenda led by market consolidation.
The Americas
Lollapalooza Argentina and Chile share 12 to 14 March 2027 and Brasil follows on 19 to 21 March. Bogotá's Estéreo Picnic sits on that second weekend with three of the same headliners.
The Americas
Organisers put attendance at about 700,000 across seven days in September, with 49% of the crowd from outside Rio de Janeiro state. The day after the festival closed, Heineken ended a partnership that dated from 2011.
The Americas
Mexico City's festival runs from 20 to 22 November 2026 at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, led by Gorillaz, Twenty One Pilots and The Strokes. Its general pass opened at 4,090 pesos before fees, the lowest first-phase price in four years.