I have never been to a music Festival so my opinions are without any experience to back me up, but I note a worrying trend recently. Barclays Bank has been forced to pull out of sponsoring several music festivals, and Baille Gifford had to withdraw from the prestigious Hay Book Festival, due to spurious links to the Gaza/Israel war. As far as I can tell it's because the companies had small exposure to clients who placed money in these areas of investment. As a consequence, artists withdrew their support for the festivals forcing the organisers to ask Barclays etc to do the same.
That is their right to do so but I would have thought that the organisers didn't think it was a problem, and neither did the artists until they were made aware of the issue because of social media.
My issue is where is the sponsorship money going to come from in future? Artists will withdraw their support because a sponsor has links to the meat trade, so vegans and animal rights groups will prevent that, Links to the oil industry? Donors to the Conservative Party? Links to the motor manufacturers? Links to women's groups (that have an opinion on trans rights)?
I can see music festivals ceasing to exist if every mob has an objection to someone...and that would be a shame.

hats off to palace, they were always gonna be louder, and hate to say it but they were impressive ALL bouncing and singing.

If there is a real financial impact, I suspect many 'artists' would soon find their moral compasses wavering.

One of the things I have realised as I have grown older is how the notion of people doing things for the love of them, rather than the financial reward, has a genuine beauty to it.

And the entire, almost industrialisation, of 'festivals' is a trend that perhaps could do with taking down a peg or two.

I saw a claim that the impact of somebody like Taylor Swift touring has a very real impact on an economy. Not just in a local way but on a far, far wider scale given the money spent on people dressing up for the concerts etc. Seems to border on a cult (and I say that with somebody who has loved ones who have bought into it).

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." - 1984 - George Orwell.

I went to the old festivals before all the banning happened and in general they were miles better. Although the first Electric Picnics in Ireland were nice and had that original vibe. Not now, all glamping and rich pricks with sky high prices - but still the over flowing toilets. Not much good music now either.
I went to one with both Kraftwerk and Human League. Good times.

Red and Blue Army!

Ticket pricing has gone crazy due to Ticketmaster and their "dynamic pricing" algorithm which is charging hundreds more for already expensive shows (gigs? Concerts? Whatever they're called).