This $799 ticket gets you into dozens of music festivals around the world in 2017
Forget Fyre Fest — for less cash than the cost of a high-end ticket to the failed festival, you can now buy a flat-fee pass to dozens of music festivals around the globe in 2017. It's called the Festival Passport, and it was just announced by LiveNation, the world's largest concert promoter.
For the remainder of 2017, the passport, costing $799, will provide admission to nearly every Live Nation fest — even if the event is already sold out. That includes more than 90 festivals like Austin City Limits, Bonnaroo, Creamfields, EDC (Las Vegas and Orlando), Governors Ball, Isle of Wight and all three Lollapaloozas (Chicago, Paris and Berlin).
It doesn't take much concert-going to make the math work out on this deal. For instance, if you attended just three full U.S. festivals you'd save about $180: For instance, Sasquatch ($295), all four nights of Bonnaroo ($350) and all four days of Lolla (currently sold out; face value $335). Throw in a few international shows — like the legendary Reading festival in England and the Rock am Ring festival in Nurberg, Germany — and you've got quite the itinerary.
There's tons of acts to catch, including Chance the Rapper and Wu-Tang Clan at Governors Ball and Run the Jewels and Sampha at Lollapalooza. And LCD Soundsystem (Sasquatch!, Forecastle), MGMT (Sasquatch!), Phoenix (Governors Ball), The XX (Bonnaroo, Lolla), Arcade Fire (Isle of Wight, Lolla) are all making returns this year.
What's the financial incentive for musical artists to opt in to the festival circuit? Today, even the biggest bands cannot expect to sell out tours on their own, so many play festivals offering a stable source of revenue.
"Increasingly, musicians are choosing the festival circuit over touring on their own," writes Umbel's Trips Reddy. "Even popular bands like Modest Mouse and the Arctic Monkeys play at multiple festivals a year and claim to love it."
Typically, only wealthier music-heads tend to attend more than one major festival in a given year: About two-thirds of festival goers attend just one event a year, according to Nielsen. The passport helps lock in attendees, while lowering the cost for hardcore concertgoers.
Unfortunately, booking and accommodations are not included, so you'll have to pay to travel to and find lodging for each festival yourself. The passport is also for general admission seating — no VIP treatment. Those caveats aside, only 1,000 passports will be sold this year, so if you are interested, you'll have to move fast. Tickets go on sale Monday at 1 p.m. ET at FestivalPassport.com.
Below you can see all the music festivals based in the United States included with the new pass. For the full rundown of concerts, see here.
Here's the list of American concerts
• Sasquatch! George, WA. May 26 to May 28
• Governors Ball. New York. June 2 to June 4
• Crystal Coast. Atlantic Beach, N.C. June 3
• Field Trip. Toronto. June 3 to June 4
• Free Press. Houston. June 3 to June 4
• Bonnaroo. Manchester, Tenn. June 8 to June 11
• EDC Las Vegas. Las Vegas. June 16 to June 18
• Country LakeShake. Chicago. June 23 to June 25
• Electric Forest. Rothbury, Mich. June 29 to July 2
• Jamboree In The Hills. Morristown, Ohio. July 13 to July 16
• Sloss Music and Arts Festival. Birmingham, Ala. July 14 to July 16
• Faster Horses Country Music Festival. Brooklyn, Mich. July 21 to July 23
• Center of Gravity. Kalowna, BC, Canada. July 28 to July 30.
• Watershed. George, Wash. July 28 to July 30
• Lollapalooza. Chicago. Aug. 3 to Aug. 6
• One Love. Calgary. Aug. 4
• Chasing Summer. Calgary. Aug. 5
• HARD. Los Angeles. Aug. 5 to Aug. 6
• The Meadows. Queens, NY. Sept. 15 to Sept. 17
• Music Midtown. Atlanta. Sept. 16 to Sept. 17
• Route 91 Harvest. Las Vegas. Sept. 29 to Oct. 1
• Austin City Limits. Austin. Oct. 6 to Oct. 8
• Voodoo. New Orleans. Oct. 27 to Oct. 29
• Contact. Vancouver. Dec. 26 to Dec. 27
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