Kappa FuturFestival organiser on challenges facing festivals in 2025: “The situation is tough”
In an exclusive interview with Far Out, Luigi Mazzoleni, the artistic director of Turin’s Kappa FuturFestival, discussed the challenges facing European festivals in 2025 and looked ahead to the upcoming edition of his event.
Kappa FuturFestival has been a major part of the Italian festival calendar since its inaugural edition in 2009, initially held to celebrate a century of Futurism. Over the years, it has become a cultural behemoth, welcoming the biggest names in electronic music from around the world and has grown in stature with each edition.
Nevertheless, it is currently a difficult time for all festivals. Last year, a report by the Association for Independent Festivals confirmed 72 festivals announced a postponement, cancellation or complete closure in 2024 in the UK alone. Meanwhile, in Australia, major music festival Splendour In The Grass has been cancelled for two successive years.
Despite Kappa FuturFestival being a huge success story and attracting crowds of more than 115,000 in 2024, hosting an event of this magnitude still presents various challenges for organisers.
In 2025, Kappa Futur Festival is set to have its biggest edition yet and will take place at Turin’s Parco Dora between July 4th and July 6th, with Caribou, Carl Cox, Peggy Gou, Diplo, Anyma, Charlotte De Witte, Floating Points and Soulwax among those set to perform.
Speaking with Far Out, Mazzoleni explains how Kappa Futur Festival has managed to keep the event affordable for audiences despite rising costs, opens up about the festival’s fight for survival during the pandemic, and looks ahead to this year’s event.
Interview with Kappa FuturFestival’s Luigi Mazzoleni:
FO: Since 2009, FuturFestival has steadily grown to become an internationally renowned festival. How has the event changed over the years since its inception?
LM: “We had always dreamed of making a daytime festival, and once we found Parco Dora, we knew we had the perfect venue. We started with a single stage – The Futur, and made investments every year to improve the experience both for the public and the artists.
How hard was it to overcome the difficulty of the Covid-19 pandemic?
LM: “It was really hard because we didn’t know what the future would be, we missed two editions of the festival, but we were able to keep costs down and we made it through. Once we opened again in 2022, we grew on the international crowd and we increased the festival from two to three days.”
In England, festivals are struggling with 72 cancellations in 2024 alone. How is the situation in Italy and Europe?
LM: “The situation is tough, the costs are rising exponentially, and unfortunately, ticket prices cannot rise as people have a lower spending possibility. But as we have built a strong brand we are able to get through this difficult moment by keeping a high production standard that has actually helped us steadily grow every year in attendance – we are bigger now than we’ve ever been, with over 115,000 tickets sold for last year’s edition.”
Has it become more difficult to book British artists since Brexit? Many artists have found it difficult to tour Europe due to increased costs related to touring Europe.
LM: “As we book artists from all over the world, we haven’t noticed such a difference in the booking department, and we still have a lot of UK artists playing each year. However, we have seen a drastic drop of ticket sales from the UK, over 70 per cent down, which is sad to see. Luckily, we have a very international audience, over 130 nations attending this year alone, but we would love to see more of our fans in the UK coming back.”
Recently, the UK festival, Wide Awake, offered last-minute half-price tickets to help them break even amid rising costs. Have rising costs also been an issue for FuturFestival?
LM: “Of course, but we really put an effort not to make the consumers pay for the current situation, by not increasing the prices accordingly to inflation. And we offer various different promotional offers like group tickets, early bird discounts etc which really help keep the tickets prices low.”
Finally, what makes FuturFestival a special event, and what should ticket holders expect from this year’s event?
LM: “The venue is stunning, and the energy of the crowd is always next level. The line-up is very eclectic, offering some premieres and festival exclusives, there’s some very special back-to-backs and live shows too that you won’t be able to see anywhere else. This year, we have also built a brand-new stage – Lab, bringing our total to several stages. This one is hosted by Speedy J. It will be the first time he’s hosted his Stoor Project outside of the Netherlands, so it will be very special.”
Kappa FuturFestival is set to take place between July 4th and July 6th. The final tickets are available to buy here.
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