Ticket sales for festivals and events have soared since the Prime Minister announced a roadmap out of lockdown.
The UK population has high hopes for this summer, since last year the majority of events were cancelled. A wide range of festivals across the UK have all sold out instantly over the past month.
Tickets for Boomtown Fair sold out in just 20 minutes back on 25th February, and Elrow Town London sold out in less than 6 hours last week. Reading and Leeds, the most attended festival in the UK according to Ticketmaster, sold out after just one day.
Becca Tolliday, 19, had a ticket to Boomtown festival carried over from last year which she is now selling. She explains that she has received dozens of offers from people who are desperate to go to the festival. Some are willing to pay nearly double the price of the original ticket cost.
She said: “I’m selling my Boomtown ticket and as soon as Boomtown sold out officially, I’ve had hundreds of messages; people begging me to buy it. I bought it for £300 and currently my highest offer is £520.”
Doubts as to whether these events will take place have been forgotten for the time being. The roadmap out of lockdown has provided a new sense of confidence, as the nation is prepared to spend hundreds on tickets for future events.
Amy Joyce, 21, remarks that it was difficult to get any festival tickets due to them selling out very quickly. After waiting in a virtual queue for an hour, she managed to get tickets for Elrow Town festival.
She said: “Me and my friends waited in a virtual queue for over an hour trying to get festival tickets for Elrow this year. Luckily, I managed to get through and get us some, but they sold out really quickly!”
The Prime Minister did urge that the roadmap is not set in stone, and it is very possible that dates may change. The rush in ticket sales, however, does provide hope for the future of the economy. It shows that the younger generation are not reluctant to spend, which is good news for businesses after lockdown, especially those in the hospitality sector.
According to Statistica, 5.2 million people attended a festival in 2019, and this number had risen every year since 2012. This confirms a loss of at least 5 million festival-goers in 2020, which has been a massive hit for events companies. Unfortunately even now they still face uncertainty about whether COVID restrictions will be lifted.
