Study title

Festival Barometer 2024

Dataset ID Number

FSD4102

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD4102
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd4102

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Kinnunen, Maarit (University of Lapland)

Abstract

Festival Barometer is a recurring study aimed at gathering information about attendees of Finnish music festivals and tracking changes in their music and festival preferences over time. The dataset also contains open-ended questions, making it suitable for qualitative analysis. In 2024, the study was conducted by LiveFIN ry, The Multidimensional Tourism Institute of University of Lapland, the Sibelius Academy at the University of the Arts, and the following 28 festivals: Blockfest, Flow Festival, Helsingin juhlaviikot, Himos Juhannus, ILMIÖ, Ilosaarirock, Iskelmä Festival Himos, Iskelmä Festival Pori, Jysäri, Jytäkesä Go-Go, Kaupungin äänet, Kesärauha, Kuopiorock, Nummirock, Porispere, Provinssi, Qstock, RMJ, Ruisrock, Suomipop Festival Jyväskylä, Suomipop Festival Oulu, Tahko Juhannus, Tammerfest, Tikkurila Festival, Tuska, Työväen Musiikkitapahtuma, Wanaja Festival and Weekend Festival.

In the first section of the survey, respondents were asked to answer questions with one specific Finnish festival in mind. They were asked to evaluate their satisfaction with the chosen festival and assess various aspects of it, such as the programme and services. The survey also asked how much money respondents spent both within and outside the festival area.

In the more general section of the survey, respondents were asked to reflect on their opinions about festival attendance in general. Questions included who they usually attend music festivals with and what would encourage them to participate more often. The survey also explored key elements of the festival experience, such as performers and festival programme, food and beverage services, and the festival area itself.

Next, respondents were asked how much festival tickets, food, accommodation, and travel expenses should cost at Finnish festivals. They were also asked about their likelihood of attending festivals in the coming years and were given an open-ended question to explain why they might not participate. In addition, respondents were asked whether they had experienced inappropriate treatment, harassment, or discrimination at music festivals in Finland during the past five years. They also indicated whether they belonged to any underrepresented group or minority. Finally, the survey explored respondents' preferred music genres, their relationship with music, and the importance of various values in their lives.

Background variables included year of birth, gender, largest cities, region, education, occupational group, social class, and annual income. The survey allows comparisons over time with other data in the series, as respondents who have participated in more than one survey year can be linked using the id variable.

Keywords

concert going; cultural events; discrimination; festivals; harassment; listening to music; music; music events; performing arts

Topic Classification

• Humanities (Fields of Science Classification)
• Consumption and consumer behaviour (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Cultural activities and participation (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Leisure, tourism and sport (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Festival Barometers

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (D) available only by permission from the data depositor/creator.

Data Collector

• Kinnunen, Maarit (University of Lapland)

Time Period Covered

2024

Collection Dates

2024-09-30 – 2024-12-01

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Attendees of the 28 target festivals: Blockfest, Flow Festival, Helsingin juhlaviikot, Himos Juhannus, ILMIÖ, Ilosaarirock, Iskelmä Festival Himos, Iskelmä Festival Pori, Jysäri, Jytäkesä Go-Go, Kaupungin äänet, Kesärauha, Kuopiorock, Nummirock, Porispere, Provinssi, Qstock, RMJ, Ruisrock, Suomipop Festival Jyväskylä, Suomipop Festival Oulu, Tahko Juhannus, Tammerfest, Tikkurila Festival, Tuska, Työväen Musiikkitapahtuma, Wanaja Festival and Weekend Festival.

Time Method

Longitudinal: Cohort/Event-based

Sampling Procedure

Non-probability: Availability

The participating festivals distributed the link to the online survey through their social media channels, such as Facebook and Instagram. Individuals who follow the festivals' posts made their own decision about whether to participate in the study. For those involved in the longitudinal study, the online form was sent by email before the survey was published by the festivals. These individuals had expressed their willingness to participate in the longitudinal study in the 2022 survey and had provided their email addresses for that purpose.

Prizes provided by the festivals were raffled among the respondents. A total of 17,100 people responded to the survey. Of these, 1,828 participated in the longitudinal study. Among them, 94 had been involved since 2014, 46 since 2016, 122 since 2018, 436 since 2020, and 1,140 since 2022.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

1.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

From the section concerning inappropriate behaviour (excluding question K59), the responses of respondents under the age of 15 have been removed by the researcher.

To anonymize the data, the researcher removed the open-ended responses concerning festival companions, relationship status, and occupational group/ life situation. References to occupations, job titles, and localities, as well as references by foreign respondents to their countries of origin, were removed from the open-ended responses. In addition, exact ages of children and references to illnesses and disabilities were removed from the responses. The researcher also created a new variable, vammainen_pitkaaikaissairas_yms, by combining information from variables K61_4 and K61_5 and references to hearing impairment, neuropsychological conditions, ADHD, autism, and tics from variable K61_8_muumika. These references were subsequently removed from variable K61_8_muumika. Responses to question K46 (Do you live in the place where the festival happens?) concerning festivals held in small localities were removed. (Himos Juhannus/Jämsä, Iskelmä Festival Himos/Jämsä, Jysäri/Jämsä, Nummirock/Kauhajoki, RMJ/Rauma and Työväen Musiikkitapahtuma/Valkeakoski).

For reasons of identifiability, the FSD removed the detailed municipality variables from which the researcher had derived a region variable and a variable identifying the largest cities. In addition to the anonymisation carried out by the researcher, the FSD removed a small number of other identifiers from the open-ended responses where necessary. Any edits made by the FSD are indicated using [[double square brackets]].

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Kinnunen, Maarit (University of Lapland): Festival Barometer 2024 [dataset]. Data version 1.0 (2026-07-31). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd4102; URN: https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD4102

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Special Terms and Conditions for Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Publications

Kinnunen, M. (2025). Festivaalibarometri 2024 ja Venuebarometri 2024: Yleisön käsitykset festivaaleista ja konserttipaikoista sekä epäasiallisen kohtelun muodot elävän musiikin tapahtumissa. (Sibelius-Akatemian selvityksiä ja raportteja 31.). Helsinki: Sibelius-Akatemia. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-329-413-4