This year, the festival season is set to attract one in five Europeans. Hungarians in particular show slightly more enthusiasm than the average -- though they remain cautious about allowing young people to attend festivals alone under the age of 17, according to the latest findings from the Youth Research Institute’s international survey.
In Hungary, festivals continue to be an activity predominantly for young people. Self-reported data indicates that 18–29-year-olds were the most frequent festivalgoers in the past year (36%), with 10% attending multiple events in one season. Notably, those with higher educational levels and residents of larger towns and cities participated in greater numbers in 2023.
The Youth Research Institute's study, encompassing 12 nations (Hungary, Croatia, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, and North Macedonia), reveals that in these Central European countries, respondents would typically allow young people to attend a festival alone for the first time at the age of 17.
Many European festivals permit entry without accompaniment or parental permission from age 16. While 32% of Hungarians would let young people go alone from 16, 42% would wait until 17. However, more than half of the Hungarian respondents (58%) believe individuals should only be permitted to attend festivals without adult supervision from age 18. The study highlights that Austria seems to be the most permissive, with 45% of respondents allowing 17-year-olds to attend festivals alone, while Croatia is the least permissive with only 13% allowing attendance at that age. In Montenegro, the highest proportion of respondents (68%) believe young people should only attend festivals unaccompanied after turning 18, whereas Austrians are the most trusting of those under 18, with 64% willing to let them attend without supervision before official adulthood.
Compared to last year (20%), slightly more Hungarians plan to attend a domestic festival this year (22%). Among the 12 countries surveyed, the largest difference between last year's and this year's planned attendance was in Montenegro, where fewer people plan to attend festivals in 2024 (23%) compared to the previous year (35%). A similar trend was observed in five other countries: North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and Austria. Conversely, in six countries, including Hungary, more people intend to visit a festival this year compared to last year; the Czechs, Croatians, Poles, Slovaks, and Slovenians also expressed increased interest in festival attendance.
The data collection for the study was conducted in the spring of 2024, with a total of 12,000 respondents, a representative sample of 1,000 people per country. The data collection was carried out by CEPER, a Central European expert in media monitoring and market research, on behalf of the Youth Research Institute.
