This document summarizes a study by Havas Sports & Entertainment on the top summer music festivals in Europe in 2011. It identifies the top 64 festivals based on criteria like lineup, organization, and pricing. The top 3 festivals are Oxegen Festival in Ireland, Glastonbury Festival in the UK, and Rock Werchter in Belgium. Additional sections analyze the best lineups, organization, value, reputation, and growth among European music festivals.
Social advertising in 2011 with Havas Sports & Entertainment
HS&E Music Festivals Study Highlights
1. TOP SUMMER EUROPEAN MUSIC FESTIVALS 2011
Highlighting the key findings of Havas Sports & Entertainment’s study on the Top 2011 Summer European
Music Festivals in terms of consumer experience
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2. OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY
Conduct online Pan-European research to identify, based on pre-defined criteria,
the top consumer experience European music festivals in 2011
How we did it?
Use our network of Havas Sports & Entertainment music experts to define which key criteria
make a festival an awesome experience considering, among others, aspects such as line –up,
general organization and pricing
Compile a list of the 64 most relevant festivals taking place this summer in Europe
Quantify each festival based on our criteria using sources such as Billboard, UK festival
guides, festivalsearcher.com, Sysomos, and more…
Each festival had to meet certain conditions
Considered as a large festival,
Held during the Summer of 2011 with a previous edition in 2010,
Considered as primarily a rock and/or pop festival (excluding festivals that are primarily electro
and metal)
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3. NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE IN EUROPE… ONE OF
THE BEST FESTIVALS IS RIGHT ON YOUR DOORSTEP!
TOP 2011 EUROPEAN SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVALS
1 Ireland Oxegen Festival 33 UK Download Festival
2 UK Glastonbury Festival 34 UK Bestival
3 UK V Festival 35 UK Big Chill Festival
4 Belgium Rock Werchter 36 Switzerland Open Air Gampel
5 Belgium Pukkelpop 37 Germany Haldern Pop
6 Denmark Roskilde 38 Finland Ilosaarirock Festival
7 Serbia Exit Festival 39 Germany Rock Im Park
8 Hungary Sziget Festival 40 France Solidays
9 Poland Coke Live Music Festival 41 Germany Area 4 Festival
10 Norway Øya Festival 42 Romania BestFest
11 Poland Open'er Festival 43 Portugal Optimus Alive!
12 Poland Przystanek Woodstock Festival 44 UK Isle of Wight Festival
13 Switzerland Open Air St. Gallen 45 UK The Secret Garden Party
14 Germany Hurricane Festival 46 Switzerland Gurtenfestival
15 Spain Benicassim International Festival 47 Spain Viña Rock
16 UK T in the Park 48 Belgium Lokerse Feesten
17 Poland Off Festival 49 UK Latitude festival
18 Switzerland Paléo Festival 50 Sweden Storsjöyran
19 Germany Rock am Ring 51 UK Sonisphere Festival
20 Austria Nova Rock Festival 52 Norway Hove Festival
21 Belgium Dour Festival 53 France Eurockéennes de Belfort
22 Germany Melt! Festival 54 Netherlands PinkPop
23 France Vieilles Charrues Festival 55 UK Wireless
24 UK Reading Festival 56 UK Rockness Festival
25 Ireland Electric Picnic 57 France Rock en Seine
26 Belgium Couleur Cafe Festival 58 Italy Heineken Jammin Festival
27 Germany Southside Festival 59 Italy Italia Wave
28 Slovakia Pohoda festival 60 Sweden Way Out West Festival
29 Portugal Super Bock Super Rock 61 Spain Primavera Sound
30 Netherlands Lowlands 62 Austria FM4 Frequency Festival
31 France Main Square Festival 63 Finland Provinssirock Festival
32 Croatia T-Mobile INmusic festival 64 Spain Bilbao BBK Live
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4. THE TOP THREE
Best European Summer Festival according to Havas Sports &
Entertainment ranking
Best International Festival prize from the UK Festival Awards
Best Line-Up at The Irish Festival Awards and best European line-
up according to Havas Sports & Entertainment Ranking
More than 80 stages
It caters nearly 200k fans who apply for tickets months in advance
Placed second in terms of audience augmentation to go along with
their 80 stages and continually boasts a top-of-the crop line-up
year in and year out
Seven stages and the second best line-up in Europe according to
Havas Sports & Entertainment ranking
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5. BEST LINE - UP
Oxegen, which pulled in top billing, boasts headliners The Black Eyed
Peas, Foo Fighters, Coldplay (right), and Beyonce
This ranking takes into consideration:
Headliner’s recent musical success
The general online and social media buzz and surrounding an artist or band
The Festival Awards recognition of the line-up as one of the top European
Line-Ups
Musical exclusivity – is the artist performing at several festivals in Europe this
summer or only a couple?
1 Ireland Oxegen Festival
2 UK V Festival
3 Belgium Rock Werchter
4 Belgium Pukkelpop
5 UK Glastonbury
6 UK T in the Park
7 Switzerland Open Air St. Gallen
8 Spain Benicassim
9 Denmark Roskilde
10 France Main Square Festival
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6. BEST GENERAL ORGANIZATION
Organization is the second most important criteria after Line-Up considered by the ranking
A festival can be an amazing experience for the fan, but if its poorly organized and full of
headaches a fans vacation can quickly be ruined. Some organizational aspects such as access,
parking, distance from the nearest metropolitan city, number of stages, information on-site
and on the official website among others have been taken into account
Glastonbury is ranked number one in terms of organization, followed by Øya, the number one
city festival in Europe
1 UK Glastonbury
2 Norway Øya Festival
3 Poland Przystanek Woodstock Festival
4 Spain Benicassim
5 UK T in the Park
6 Hungary Sziget
7 Poland Open’er Festival
8 France Vieilles Charrues
9 UK Latitude Festival
10 Serbia Exit Festival
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7. BEST VALUE
If your budget is tight this summer, think about heading east; Eastern
Europe has a clear stronghold on the most cost efficient festivals in Europe
- six of the top ten cheapest European rock festivals considered by this
study reign from Eastern Europe.
Average Price of a
Ticket Price
Beer
1 Poland Przystanek Woodstock Festival FREE 1,50 €
2 Poland Off Festival 7,50 € 1,50 €
3 Poland Open’er Festival 14,00 € 1,50 €
4 Belgium Lokerse Feesten 9,50 € 2,00 €
5 Romania BestFest 22,83 € 1,00 €
6 Poland Coke Live Music Festival 19,00 € 1,50 €
7 Slovakia Pohoda Festival 23,00 € 1,20 €
8 Portugal Super Bock Super Rock 26,67 € 1,00 €
9 Serbia Exit Festival 25,48 € 1,20 €
10 Germany Haldern Pop 25,00 € 1,50 €
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8. BEST REPUTATION
The reputation of a festival is based on four criteria weighted independently
The number of years that the festival exists,
The number of festival Facebook fans,
If the festival has been official recognized or awarded as one of Europe’s top music festivals, and
The increase/decrease in attendance over the last three few editions
1 Belgium Pukkelpop
2 U.K. Glastonbury
3 Demark Roskilde
4 Germany Hurricane Festival
5 Belgium Lokerse Feesten
6 Belgium Rock Werchter
7 Serbia Exit Festival
8 Belgium Dour Festival
9 UK V Festival
10 Belgium Couleur Cafe
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9. BEST GROWTH
French Festivals are experiencing the steepest increase in attendance since 2008. It’s main
festivals have witnessed an increase much higher than the European average of 8.4K (see graph
below), with an outstanding increase for the Main Square Festival (+46K) and Rock en Seine
(+29K).
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10. Christopher Rapaport
Global Research Manager
Tel. : +33 1 58 47 84 28
christopher.rapaport@havas-se.com
2, Allée de Longchamp
92 281 Suresnes Cedex France
www.havas-se.com
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