Illinois, Wisconsin Music Festivals See Massive Price Increases
Nothing brings me more happiness than being in a crowd of music fans listening to a live performance of our favorite band, and we are lucky enough to be close to some of the best music festivals on Earth.
But it's becoming increasingly expensive to attend these events every year, with some music festival tickets rising by almost 70 percent in just over a decade.
Festival Tickets Are Getting More Expensive
A recent Hard Rock Bet study on the 31 most popular music festivals in America revealed a massive price increase at many events since 2015, with inflation, growing popularity, and fan experiences driving the spike in ticket costs.
Of the festivals that were analyzed, two Chicago music events were ranked in the top 21 for ticket price increases.
Lollapalooza ranked 20th, with its average general admission ticket price going from $110 per ticket in 2015 to this year's ticket averaging $185 a piece, an increase of 68 percent over a decade. Riot Fest, which is coming up in September at Douglass Park in Chicago, was 21st on the list, with ticket prices climbing from $70 in 2015 to $115 this year (2026).
That may sound steep, but compared to Iowa's Hinterland Music Festival, prices increased over 240 percent in a decade, going from $45 a ticket in 2015 to $155 in 2026.
Summerfest Remains a Bargain
To attend the World's Largest Music Festival in Milwaukee, you don't have to pay the World's Largest prices.
While Summerfest has had a 74 percent increase since 2015, when they were $19 each, tickets are still the cheapest of America's most popular music festivals, with tickets only $33 in 2026.
If you save your old concert ticket stubs, look back to see what the cheapest ticket prices were for a show in the 80's or 90's, and you'll see how much live music events have increased in price.
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