In 2024, the organizers of city festivals will expand both the geography of their presence and formats

In 2024, the organizers of city festivals and events expect to expand both the geography of their presence and formats: MTC Live entered into an agreement with Luzhniki to hold more than 40 events within two months, VK is expanding the geography of VK Fest, will increase the number of events and the capital’s Summer project Sound. Organizers note growing demand, but are forced to raise prices due to increased costs for equipment, infrastructure and fees for top artists, among whom competition has decreased.

Event organizers will expand the format of city events and festivals in 2024. Thus, MTS Live told Kommersant that they signed a contract with Luzhniki: from June 1 to July 31, more than 40 events will be held on the open area of ​​the sports complex (music concerts and festivals, film screenings, dance and theater performances, stand-ups, lectures, sports events, etc.), some of which are organized by MTS Live itself (it owns the MTS Live Hall concert venue in Yekaterinburg, and also manages the MTS Live Hall in Moscow and the MTS Live Arena in St. Petersburg).

The festival infrastructure at Luzhniki will also be rented out to other organizers, said the head of promotion and production at MTS Live, Yanina Tataritskaya. The space, she said, can be transformed into three different configurations with a capacity from 1.5 thousand to 10 thousand people. The company expects that more than 120 thousand people will visit it during its operation.

According to InterMedia, the segment of festivals and city events, including state and municipal ones, amounted to 10–15 billion rubles at the end of 2023.

The format of city festivals in Russia has been developing since about 2016, including the Urban project, located at the Flacon design plant, and Summer Sound, as well as VK, notes Colisium International Music Forum producer Sergei Babich. According to his estimates, the demand for such events has increased: “If in 2022 there were generally many cancellations due to the departure of many artists, stand-up comedians from the country and the cancellation of tours of foreign performers, then in 2023 the market adapted to new conditions and began to find new names and formats.” The MTS project, the expert believes, may be in demand from an infrastructure point of view by other organizers, since “it will help them save money.”

VK Fest in 2023 has expanded compared to the festival in 2022 – Novosibirsk and Vladivostok have been added to the three base cities (Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi). VK says that in 2024 Ufa and Krasnoyarsk will be added to the festival’s geography. Last year, 175 artists and musical groups performed at VK Fest; the festival was attended by 200 thousand people (compared to 175 thousand a year earlier), the company clarified.

The general director of the Northern Sound concert agency and the Urban club, Andrei Prokofiev, said that they launched a project of open-air summer city events in 2017 and since then it has expanded from one week to five: “In 2024, we plan to hold even more events and attract more high-level artists.” According to him, audience demand in 2023 has increased significantly and many have faced rising costs of organization due to increased artist fees, the cost of equipment and infrastructure. Over the year, expenses increased by approximately 20% and will continue to increase in 2024, Mr. Prokofiev specified. “Indexation of ticket prices is happening, but due to good attendance we have so far managed to contain it,” he added.

Producer of the Air of Karelia festival (held with the support of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives), Maxim Mazurovsky, confirmed that “one of the difficulties for the organizers in 2024 will be rising costs.” “This is not only an increase in prices for equipment rental, transport and accommodation. There are fewer artists on the market, some have raised their fees significantly,” he explained. However, according to Mr. Mazurovsky, the festival expects to attract even more spectators in 2024: “We are forced to raise ticket prices, but we do this carefully through dynamic pricing, when the price at the start of sales and at the entrance may differ by 30–50%.” .

One of Kommersant’s interlocutors from among the festival organizers believes that 2024 will remain risky for the segment due to political issues – “in a situation where artists one day end up on the list of undesirables, it is very difficult to plan work.”

Yulia Tishina