News & perspectives
Smukfest takes new steps to improve the audience experience
Fewer Saturday tickets and attention to site layout, scheduling and audience flow: Smukfest’s announced changes for 2027 offer a positive professional lesson. Experience from one festival can help develop the next.
A major festival is constantly moving. Audiences travel between concerts, meeting places and bars, and their experience is shaped by the interaction of people, programme and physical setting.
Smukfest has announced 2,000 fewer Saturday tickets in 2027. According to GAFFA, the festival is also working on its physical layout, scheduling and the interaction between stages to improve audience flow.
Looking at the whole picture
Our professional assessment is that the strength of this approach lies in considering several measures together. Guest numbers matter, as do the location of facilities and access routes and the timing of major concerts. Considering them together provides a better basis for planning crowd movement.
A good guest experience grows from the interaction of planning and practical delivery.
Openness creates an opportunity to learn
After The Minds of 99 concert in August, Smukfest published its account of crowd movement and localised pressure. Police subsequently said the incident would be evaluated with the authorities and the festival.
This article does not establish the conclusions of that overall evaluation. We therefore cannot say how individual changes were decided or what effect they will have. We can recognise that Smukfest has communicated about the challenges and announced concrete adjustments for the next festival.
Inspiration for other organisers
Smukfest’s announced approach raises three questions for other festivals and venues: What did we learn? Gather experience from guests, employees and partners. What should change? Consider attendance, programming, layout and service facilities. How will we follow up? Assess at the next event whether changes work as intended.
Our professional view is that the ability to learn and adjust is an important part of professional event operations. Smukfest’s 2027 measures have yet to be tested. Its stated direction deserves positive attention: the festival has put concrete changes on the agenda with the ambition of improving audience flow.
A strong festival experience is also developed between festivals.