The highest-earning music festival of all time
Since the days of the hippiedom and Woodstock, music festivals have been a staple of popular culture. Since then, many musical bonanzas have popped up worldwide, with some of the most prominent being Glastonbury, Coachella, and Burning Man. As is well-documented, not only are these names colourful extravaganzas of creativity, but they are also economic leviathans. Glastonbury is a financial anomaly, but its American counterpart, Coachella, rakes in eye-watering sums annually.
Indicating just how much Coachella makes, in 2023, it is estimated to have generated over $1.5 billion for the local economy, with much of that figure coming from ticket sales, merchandise and sponsorships. This year’s edition drew over 500,000 revellers over its two weekends, with a daily average of roughly 60,000, which doubled the number from the previous year.
Yet, Coachella 2023 was not the highest-grossing festival of all time. Strangely, the eminent Guinness World Records list on their website that it was 2019’s Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival staged at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, that has the top spot, taking in $29,634,734 (£24,624,200) after selling 205,500 tickets starting at $155 (£120). The event was headlined by Paul Simon, Childish Gambino and Twenty One Pilots. It also featured heavyweights such as Blink-182, Counting Crows, Hozier, Kygo, Lil Wayne, The Lumineers, Kacey Musgraves and Bebe Rexha.
However, it seems this isn’t true. Other outlets report that the highest-grossing music festival of all time was 2016’s Desert Trip. A six-day music festival that took place on October 7th–9th and 14th–16th that year at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, the lineup featured cultural icons The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters and The Who. Famously, as part of their show, The Rolling Stones covered the classic song ‘Come Together’ by their old friends, The Beatles. It was sneeringly dubbed ‘Oldchella’ when its two-show-per-night lineup was announced at the same time as Coachella, the festival also ironically run by Goldenvoice.
Reflecting just how profitable Desert Trip was, its all-star lineup helped it sell out in only a few hours, clearing $160 million before it was even held due to the estimated 75,000 attendees. An expensive experience, a general admission weekend pass costs $399, with exclusive tickets in the pit sold for a whopping $1,599. On average, it was estimated that fans would spend more than $1,000 each.
“It turned out to be the highest-grossing show by far,” Goldenvoice CEO and organiser Paul Tollett told The New York Times about Desert Trip. “It beat No. 2, which is Coachella, by far. The gross is approximately $160million for the two weekends.”
“That is a unique, one-off thing,” he continued. “It’s not really a festival — it’s a concert, two bands a day. I just thought those six bands should play together. It’s never been done.”
