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German Highfield Festival Ends After Almost 30 Years
August18
Highfield Festival staged its final edition last weekend, bringing almost 30 years of festival history to a close as promoter FKP Scorpio warns that rising costs and increasingly narrow margins are putting festivals and the wider live music sector under growing pressure.
The final Highfield took place from 13-16 August at Störmthaler See near Leipzig in Germany under the banner “One Last Dance”, attracting around 28,000 visitors. FKP Scorpio and co-organiser Semmel Concerts had announced in July that the festival would not continue in its current form.
The long-running event had become one of eastern Germany’s established festivals, combining rock, indie, punk, hip-hop and pop with a lakeside setting close to Leipzig.
Production costs up almost 50%
In a detailed statement published around the final edition, FKP Scorpio said average costs across festival production had increased by almost 50% since the pandemic.
The promoter pointed to higher expenditure on personnel, infrastructure, materials, energy and artist fees, alongside additional safety requirements and growing audience expectations around comfort, food, production and the overall festival experience.
Extreme weather is also becoming an increasingly important financial factor, with organisers facing higher insurance premiums and additional expenditure on measures such as shaded areas, drinking-water infrastructure and medical services.
Break-even levels approaching 85%
According to FKP Scorpio, the break-even point for some festivals has now moved to around 85% of capacity or higher.
The company said this was making festival promotion an increasingly high-risk business, particularly because additional income from food, beverages and merchandise is also directly linked to attendance.
FKP Scorpio said simply increasing ticket prices in line with costs was not a realistic solution, arguing that prices of €400-500 would put festivals beyond the reach of a large proportion of audiences.
Organisers are instead increasingly looking towards sponsorship, VIP products and other additional services to help support standard ticket prices.
Pressure on smaller promoters
While FKP Scorpio said its other festivals remain successful, the company described Highfield as an example of a wider structural challenge facing the live entertainment sector.
Smaller and medium-sized festivals and venues could be particularly vulnerable because they have less ability to absorb losses, cross-subsidise events or build financial reserves.
The promoter warned that the disappearance of smaller live events could have consequences for both cultural diversity and artist development.
FKP Scorpio also encouraged audiences to buy tickets earlier, arguing that advance sales provide organisers with greater planning security at a time when production commitments have to be made months before an event takes place.
Founded in 1990, Hamburg-based FKP Scorpio has developed into one of Europe’s major live entertainment promoters. The company operates across the UK and Europe and promotes more than 25 festivals as well as thousands of concerts and other live events each year.
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