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Dutch Concerts Hit Record in 2024 While Festivals Decline
September23
In 2024, concerts and festivals in the Netherlands with at least 3,000 visitors attracted a combined 29.9 million attendances, down slightly from 30.6 million in 2023.
The figures come from the annual survey by Respons, commissioned by VVEM and VNPF.
The decline was fully attributable to the festival market, which recorded fewer events and lower visitor numbers. The concert market, by contrast, showed strong growth, marking a full recovery after the pandemic years.
Concert Market Reaches New Highs
The number of large concerts (3,000+ visitors) rose by 17.4% to 385 in 2024, with attendance up 11% to 5.2 million – the highest since data collection began in 2017. Smaller concerts also recorded growth (+4.7%). Programming was almost evenly split between international (54%) and Dutch (46%) artists, with international acts increasing their share in mid-sized venues.
Major venues dominated the landscape, with Ziggo Dome, AFAS Live, and Rotterdam Ahoy/RTM Stage together accounting for over 66% of large concerts. The GelreDome overtook Johan Cruijff ArenA as the leading stadium venue, hosting shows by artists such as The Eagles, Travis Scott, and Snollebollekes.
Amsterdam strengthened its position as the country’s concert capital, hosting 234 concerts with more than 3 million visitors. Promoter MOJO Concerts remained the market leader, organizing 153 concerts (40% of the total) and attracting 2.2 million visitors – almost 43% of the national concert audience.
Festival Market Faces Ongoing Pressure
The number of festivals fell slightly from 1,252 to 1,225 (-2%) in 2024, while attendance declined by 5%. Music festivals were hit hardest (-3.3%), with electronic dance music events showing the steepest drop: a 9% decline in the number of festivals and a 13.5% fall in attendance.
Rising costs, falling sponsorship, and reduced government subsidies continue to weigh on the sector. Although festival cancellations decreased from 160 to 134, cost increases were a decisive factor in one-third of the cases. Despite the downturn, nearly 50 new festival editions were launched in 2024.
Outlook for 2025
Preliminary figures from Respons suggest the concert market may contract by about 5.5% in 2025, while the number of festivals is expected to fall again by around 3%.
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