Photo:
Bestival organiser Rob da Bank claims that this summer's Olympic Games is partly responsible for the struggling festival season in 2012.
This year has seen a number of festivals cancelled due to lack of interest, and the Bestival boss admits that even his September Isle Of Wight event has struggled in 2012, only now approaching a ticket sell-out. Rob da Bank now blames the interest in the Olympics and the money spent attending events on the lack of festival tickets bought.
"Last year, around this time I was pooh-poohing the Olympics a little bit, not really thinking it was going to have any effect but I was wrong, it's had a huge effect on event sales in general," says the producer and DJ in an interview with Gigwise. "That, combined with economic woes, for a lot of people it hasn't been a good year and we had a pretty terrible start to the year with weather and stuff. The year has been crap for a lot of people.
"We're about to sell out on Bestival and we did sell out for Camp Bestival. We've just about managed to get there but it certainly hasn't been easy. I just hope it gets better for next year."
However, despite even big name events such as Bestival struggling in 2012, da Bank claims the tough year will ultimately prove a good thing for the festival scene in the UK.
"Maybe in a good way it will separate the wheat from the chaff," he adds. "Anyone who puts on an event without the best possible reasons might fall by the wayside.
"I don't mean that in a renegade way, I love competition, there's hundreds of festivals to compete with and I love the UK festival market, but there are definitely some shows that are just in there for the money or reasons that aren't necessarily for the fans."
Bestival takes place on 7-9 September 2012. Tickets are on sale now. For more information visit Gigwise Gig Tickets.
.jpg)
