Survey reveals nearly a third of millennials went into debt to afford music festivals

These days, it seems like most music festival lovers go to just about all of them. Leaving one question on the minds of many: how exactly do they afford them? It appears that a lot of them actually can’t, according to a new survey which gathered information from 1,019 millennials in America.

A new report from CompareCards by Lending Tree found that nearly one-third (32%) of millennials have actually gone into debt after purchasing festival ticket. In addition, 23% of the responders said they’ve gone into debt at one point in their life due to the increasingly high prices of festival tickets.

More than half (53%) of the respondents said they have attended at least one music festival in the last 12 months. Of those who attended at least one, 28% said they spent at least $500 on music festivals. More than half ($68) of the surveyed millennials also said they spent more on festivals in the past year than they did in previous years.

The data is no surprise considering how the cost to attend major US festivals like Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Coachella are increasingly inflated. The cost of a Coachella ticket is $429 and that’s just the price of a GA ticket itself. On top of that, a camping pass or a hotel room is usually necessary. Add on travel expenses, in addition to food and drinks for the weekend, money for vendors, and of course the fashion. When all is said-and-done, festivals can rack up a bill of one or two grand easily, depending on the kind of experience you want to have. 

The numbers are not only reflective of our society of over-consumption, where millennials are biting off more than they can chew in order to get their latest Instagram shot, but it’s understandable why they would choose to go into debt for festivals. Music festivals are magical temporary pop-up utopias where people from many walks of life converge onto one site to celebrate music, connection, and the human experience. Now is that cause for choosing to take on debt over? Survey says: yes. 

H/T: YourEDM.