Few things unite the nation quite like the collective despair of the Glastonbury ticket queue. This weekend, if past years are anything to go by, more than one million of us are likely to be staring at the same holding page, refreshing, praying and group-chatting in equal measure, all for the chance to pay £408 to stand in a field in Somerset.
And although every headline set will be streamed live, in high definition, straight to our homes and no queue for the loo… nobody wants that.
But why? When technology can bring almost anything to our sofas, why are we obsessed with being there?
Despite the consistent noise around AI, social media, chronic isolation and the cost-of-living crisis, live event attendance is increasing in the UK, rising 18 percent year-on-year. In June alone, 4.3 million people attended live shows and music festivals in the UK.
However, advances in technology have come at a cost. Andrew Fisher, Chair of international festival business, Superstruct Entertainment, explained to me that it has removed some of the opportunities for humans to get together in real life. He told me: “Technology now gives us everything individually, but fewer opportunities together. We can speak to anyone, anywhere, at any time; we carry the world around in our pockets. And yet, by almost every measure that matters, loneliness is rising, trust is declining and people feel increasingly disconnected from the people around them.”
Globally, around a quarter of adults aged 15 and older have reported feeling very or fairly lonely in a recent study, and this statistic rises dramatically to 50 percent when looking specifically at young adults aged 18 to 24. “I think that’s exactly why live, shared experiences have become one of very few genuinely communal things we do,” Andrew said.
“Live, shared experiences have become one of very few genuinely communal things we do”
Indeed, live events appear to be working as the antidote. Live Nation’s 2025 Living for Live study of 40,000 people across 15 countries, found that 77% said that being in a crowd made them feel part of something bigger.
David Selby, CEO of music discovery and ticket platform, Resident Advisor, tells me: “The UK has an almost insatiable appetite for live experiences”. He says that this is largely driven by the human desire for community: “In dance music especially, you see small communities and scenes grow up around specific venues in cities all over the world. It’s an incredibly beautiful thing”.
In fact, speaking to James Massing, SVP at Live Nation, he told me that, “fundamental demand is stronger than ever”, perhaps by nature of the fact that “the scale, the sophistication of the audience, and the number of ways fans can engage with artists” has increased exponentially.
“In dance music especially, you see small communities and scenes grow up around specific venues in cities all over the world. It’s an incredibly beautiful thing”
From Boardmasters to Lost Village to Boiler Room, Andrew explained to me why younger generations are gravitating towards festivals and live events. “They want sub-cultures blended with other sub-cultures or hobbies, because people are bored of scrolling through the same algorithmically served video. Young people seek to be transported to places where they don’t know what happens next, they want to discover and explore.
“That’s why the role festivals now play is so fascinating. People aren’t using their phone to live through the experience.”
Having said all of this, what the audience expects from a live performance now, is not the same as it would have been ten years ago. James tells me: “Our responsibility is no longer to simply put on a great concert, but to create an experience that is compelling enough for someone to make the decision to leave their home, spend their money and give us their time.”
Jon Spalding, Chief Commercial Officer at Pophouse, the global entertainment and music investment firm behind experiences including Mamma Mia! The Party, catalogues including KISS, Avicii and Tina Turner, as well as a founding investor in ABBA Voyage, said: The key to audience engagement is still authentic storytelling and connection. Audiences love a ‘wow, how do they do that’ moment, but at the core what they want is to feel something and share that experience with others.”
“The key to audience engagement is still authentic storytelling and connection”
Personalisation plays a role in getting this right, but sometimes it is as simple as having the fundamentals in place, as James explains: “Having a great artist, a great show, the right market, the right venue, and an easy purchase journey still works.”
The UK has always had a plethora of festivals and live music events, but is this a trend that we’re now seeing globally? James told me that, because Live Nation operates across the entire global live ecosystem, artists, promoters, venues, festivals and ticketing, they are able to have a good vantage point, and this is true across the world. He said: “International attendance has become an increasingly important growth engine for us, and in 2025, international fan attendance actually exceeded the US for the first time.”
The list of world tours that have taken place in 2026 alone feels remarkable; Bad Bunny, Rosalía, Bruno Mars and BTS all had successful runs this year, with Harry Styles making history. Performing the most nights consecutively ever at both Wembley Stadium, he sold out 12 shows, and Madison Square Gardens – a sold out 30-night residency. And, in a move that shows just how popular live events currently are, he has also sold out a further 25 shows in 2027 across the US, Europe and UK.
“Sharing a space, an experience and a moment in time”
Similarly, just this week, Oasis sold out their 42 live shows across the UK and Europe. And on this Sunday morning, more than a million of us will join the Glastonbury ticket queue. Most know we’ll come away empty-handed. And yet, we’ll be back next year, refreshing all over again.
Because, as Andrew says, what drives us is the opportunity for people to be “sharing a space, an experience and a moment in time,” something the sofa fundamentally can’t provide. From Glastonbury and Green Man to London’s smallest basement club, the industry’s challenge now is to create experiences worth leaving home for, because there is still no substitute for being together.
