Few experiences in the music world are as exhilarating and nerve-wracking as buying tickets for a major festival. Especially in this day and age, it almost feels like you’re fighting with a website just to attend a lively festival in the summer. So which ones will give you the hardest time? Which ones are EVERYONE getting tickets to?
These are some of the world’s most iconic festivals, selling out to hundreds of thousands of people each year and we can’t wait to see them all! Jarred Abbott from A2Z Events found some of the world’s most iconic festivals to understand why they are so sought after and the complexities of securing tickets to them.
How many of the world’s most attended festivals have you been to, and how many are in your plans? Read on for a full look at the festivals with the most tickets sold around the world and start making your list!
Coachella
Where: Indio, California, USA
Coachella is a multi-genre music and arts festival featuring a diverse lineup ranging from rock, indie, hip-hop, and electronic dance music (EDM). Known for its star-studded lineup, celebrity sightings, and trendsetting fashion, Coachella offers a unique blend of music and art installations that attract attendees from around the globe.
This year, Coachella took a surprising 27 days, four hours, and 38 minutes to sell approximately 125,000 tickets for the first weekend, a departure from its previous rapid sellouts. The festival also employs a tiered pricing system, adding to the urgency of early purchase.
Tomorrowland
Where: Boom, Belgium
Tomorrowland is one of the largest and most notable electronic dance music festivals in the world. It exclusively features EDM, showcasing top DJs from around the world, including David Guetta, Armin van Buuren, and Martin Garrix.
Tomorrowland tickets are some of the most sought-after, often selling out within minutes. This year around 200,000 tickets reserved for Belgian citizens vanished in just 27 minutes, with the remainder selling out by the end of the general sale. The festival uses a pre-registration system, where prospective attendees must sign up months in advance to be eligible to purchase tickets.
Glastonbury Festival
Where: Pilton, Somerset, England
Glastonbury is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts. It features a wide array of genres, including rock, pop, hip-hop, electronic, and world music. Headliners have included legends like Paul McCartney, Adele, and the Rolling Stones.
As one of the longest-running and most revered festivals globally, Glastonbury’s rich history and eclectic mix of performances make it a cultural pilgrimage for many music fans.
The festival uses a registration system where attendees must pre-register with a photograph to purchase tickets, aimed at reducing scalping and ensuring genuine fans can attend.
Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC)
Where: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Electric Daisy Carnival, commonly known as EDC, is an electronic dance music festival organized by promoter and distributor Insomniac. The annual flagship event, EDC Las Vegas, is held in May at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and is the largest electronic dance music festival in North America as of 2024.
There are, on average, 400,000 tickets sold per year but more than 1.5 MILLION people register to try their hand at going.
Lollapalooza
Where: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Lollapalooza is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991, and many years later, Chicago became its permanent location. Music genres include alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock, hip hop, and electronic dance music. This year, it’s still coming up with festival dates in August 2024.
Trying to go? About 400,000 tickets are available for sale, with 1.5 million people trying to snag them.
Rock In Rio
Where: Originally in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, now in locations such as Lisbon, Madrid and Las Vegas
Originally organized in Rio de Janeiro, Rock in Rio is a mega-festivals of music created in Brazil and held since 1985. This festival is the reason some of music’s biggest names performed their inaugural shows in South America, with iconic talents such as Queen and Guns N’ Roses.
There are several days of event, which brings together national and foreign musicians, and is currently held every two years. 1.5 million people register to attend the 700,000 person festival.
Reading & Leeds Festival
Where: Reading, England & Leeds, England
These two annual music festivals happen simultaneously in their respective regions. So how does it work?
Headliners and most supporting acts typically play at both sites, with Reading’s Friday line up becoming Leeds’ Saturday line-up, Reading’s Saturday line-up playing at Leeds on Sunday, and so on. Attending either of these music festivals means you have the option to camp at the site, or spend just the day there.
You’ll see 400,000-500,000 registering for these festivals, but the ticket capacity for each is only around 75,000 (Leeds) and 90,000 (Reading).
Sziget Festival
Where: Óbudai-sziget, Budapest, Hungary
The Sziget Festival is one of the largest music and cultural festivals in Europe with a seriously STACKED line-up of talent (like, so many acts). It is held every August in northern Budapest, Hungary, on Óbudai-sziget, a leafy 108-hectare island on the Danube.
More than 1,000 performances take place each year and Sziget Festival can see 500,000 attendees with more than 200,000 other registrants getting disappointing news at ticket time.
Austin City Limits
Where: Zilker Park in Austin, Texas
Austin City Limits Music Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Zilker Park in Austin, Texas on two consecutive three-day weekends and is inspired by the KLRU/PBS music series of the same name. The festival is produced by Austin-based company C3 Presents, which also produces Chicago’s Lollapalooza.
700,000 people try their lucky for tickets to this 450,000-capacity event over the two weekends.
What do you go to festivals for most? The headliners? The supporting acts to discover new music? Maybe it’s the fashion and culture, or even all those cool vendors and activities brands are setting up lately! Whatever it is, make sure you have a solid plan for ticket day and stay tuned for even more festival content.
Party on, wherever you are in Canada, in these cities that come alive in the nighttime!
Data on Coachella was collected from Billboard. Data on Tomorrowland was collected from IQ Magazine. Data on Glastonbury was collected from NME.
