Are festivals becoming the new family holiday?

With the summer festival season closing at the iconic Reading and Leeds this weekend, a new report on British festival culture reveals that 73% of parents say that music festivals beat traditional trips.

The industry’s State of Play Report 2025 by Ticketmaster highlights the evolving shifts to festival culture with two thirds (67%) of parents saying that festivals make better family memories and nearly half see music festivals as a better alternative to a traditional family vacation.

When it comes to what parents really treasure, they say it’s moments that matter most: seeing children enjoy live music for the first time (57%), discovering new music together (50%), and bonding through shared experiences (51%).

Aston spoke to Sarah Slater, head of music & festivals at Ticketmaster.

Photo by James Genchi on Unsplash