Technical shortcomings
As more and more investors jump on the music festival bandwagon in search of profit, competition between different festivals has grown fierce and shows no sign of letting up.
But running a successful music festival is no simple matter.
Attracting bigger audiences and building recognition is the first priority for investors and organizers. Besides the musical content of the festivals, equipment such as sound systems, stage lighting, basic services and transportation are also major factors.
The festivals are often held in large parks in suburban areas of a city, making transportation the first concern. If there is no convenient way to get there, many music lovers will skip the festival.
Most music festivals last for a whole day, and fans like to spend the day chatting with friends, relaxing and enjoying the music at the same time.
Providing meals and maintaining sanitary conditions in toilets are serious issues where organizers often fall short. Bad food and dirty toilets will inevitably soil the reputation of a music festival and hinder its long-term development.
Questionable life span
Though the number of music festivals is large, the industry is hardly prosperous. Among the hundreds of festivals held in China in recent years, only four or five have made a profit.
Some music festivals appear only once, never to return.
Currently in China, there are four operational types of music festivals: government-sponsored, company-sponsored, institution-sponsored, and jointly-sponsored by a government and an institution.
Many organizers do not expect to make any money from holding a music festival, but hope to publicize local culture or attract tourists, like the music festival held in Lijiang, a natural tourist attraction in Yunnan Province.
If a local government can use a music festival to promote tourism, there will be a win-win situation for governments and music festival organizers, which could create long-lasting relationships, said an industry insider.
