BOOMTOWN being condensed down in the bowl, we moved Anara up on the hilltop to bring that crowd out of the bowl. We also brought back The successfulLion’ s Den, which is a crowd favourite, for the first time since 2019.
“ Post-pandemic we had to make some radical decisions and work with the resources available, and it was deemed that the best course of action was to condense the footprint. We ' ve always had the ambition to grow it back to what we believe is the best footprint for the show, and this is where we are today.”
The changes implemented during the redesign process are in line with a wider festival enhancement process that has been undertaken since Gwazdacz- Wollaston joined Boomtown in 2022.
“ Like the rest of the industry, we faced huge challenges through the pandemic, including rising costs,” he says.“ Rather than simply cutting budgets, we made some major strategic moves that completely changed the direction of the festival. We shifted away from relying on headline artists, doubled down on the immersive experience, took the bold decision not to release the lineup until two weeks before show, rethought our commercial model, and ultimately rebuilt the festival around customer loyalty and experience.”
Going to town
He says the decision in 2022 not to release the artist lineup when the festival’ s tickets went on sale was a brave move but one that proved successful:“ Not announcing the lineup gave us greater freedom and time to curate a unique programme, while allowing us to be more reactive during what was a very challenging period for booking talent post-Covid.”
“ We sold a lot of tickets on the back of the brand alone and that gave us real faith that our audience loyalty was there. We really lent into that up until the point where we felt that we wanted to broaden the audience demographic by moving away from certain genres of music. We wanted to stage almost every genre of music you can have and entice fans to come to the festival who maybe thought
Toby Gwazdacz-Wollaston
Boomtown wasn ' t for them because it was heavily focused on electronic music. So we started releasing the lineup, but just a sprinkling of diverse acts – such as Madness, Shaggy, Vengaboys – who you would not expect on your traditional Boomtown bill.
“ Whereas historically Boomtown has been more about electronic and bass-led music, now we ' re leaning more into live music. We ' re going to keep pushing the boundaries and see how far we can take it.”
Taking in the stunning spectacle of extraordinary structures and remarkably dressed‘ citizens’ as we drive around the sun-soaked Boomtown site, it is apparent that the festival is attracting a slightly older demographic, or at the very least retaining the loyalty of fans for longer.
“ We have definitely seen a change in attendance this year,” says Gwazdacz- Wollaston.“ Around 50 % are aged over 25. Our focus has been to broaden the musical offering and make Boomtown welcoming to a wider demographic, and it ' s really worked.”
In line with other major festivals, Boomtown has seen huge demand in recent years for premium camping facilities, to the extent that around a third of Boomtown attendees this year paid for an enhanced camping experience of some kind.
“ It ' s almost like our GA ticket is the accessible ticket for those that just want the cheapest price possible,” says Gwazdacz-Wollaston.“ We have a selection of pre-pitched tent offerings, and we work with partners including Tangerine Fields and VIP Nation on the facilities. We ' re seeing that aspect of the event go from strength to strength. Festivals are becoming like a holiday
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