Festival season planning is getting brutal. With ticket fees, travel, and lodging all climbing, a lot of fans say they’re prioritizing music without nuking their savings — and the community has practical strategies that actually work.
Here’s the short version: buy early, work for it, or shrink the trip. The people who still get to a handful of fests a year are doing it with presale timing, volunteer shifts, smaller events, and smart travel hacks.
What’s working for real fans
- Presales and alerts: Set up presale notifications and get in as soon as tickets drop. Aggregator sites that list presale passwords and codes (Amex, Ticketmaster, Live Nation, etc.) let you snag face value tickets before scalpers and fees ramp up.
- Volunteer or trade labor: Many festivals offer volunteer programs or work exchanges. Yes, you’ll trade free shows for shifts, but it’s a solid way to get in without the full price and you’ll meet people behind the scenes.
- Choose smaller or niche fests: Regional and indie festivals are often a fraction of the cost of Coachella/Lolla. Fans pointed to options like Treefort and Shaky Knees as cheaper alternatives if you book early. Camping-focused multi-day events can also be shockingly cheap — one attendee mentioned a five‑day camping fest for about $110 with minimal on-site spending.
- Tribute and local festivals: Tribute shows and low-profile local fests can deliver great live-music value for far less. One fan went solo to a £99 VIP tribute fest and came back with new friends and great memories — proof that the name on the poster isn’t everything.
- Split costs and travel smart: Split Airbnbs, road-trip with friends (minivan style), and stay outside expensive cities to avoid brutal hotel rates. For high-cost cities, commute in from cheaper nearby towns.
- Look for free or tiny events: Don’t underestimate local free festivals or smaller day parties — sometimes the best sets happen in tiny, unofficial rooms.
Quick planning checklist
- Map out your top 2–3 must‑see fests and budget around those.
- Sign up for presale lists and ticket alerts now.
- Research volunteering/work-exchange deadlines and commitments.
- Ask around for travel carpools and shared lodging early.
- Consider a mix of big-ticket events + one cheap regional or tribute fest to stretch the season.
You don’t have to chase every headline festival to get the music and community that matter. With some early planning and willingness to work, swap, or scale down, the festival season can still be one of the richest parts of the year — without crashing your bank account.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/festivals/comments/1pete87/anyone_else_struggling_to_afford_any_festivals/