How FEQ Reins In Ticket Prices

Yes, for American festivalgoers accustomed to purchasing single day passes when they’re not able to afford or attend a full weekend - often at an exorbitant price point from scalpers or on the secondary market - the idea of an affordable 11 day pass that can be easily transferred between concertgoers is nothing short of astonishing.

While supposedly-fan friendly artists like Bruce Springsteen consistently up the exhausting arms race that is concert ticketing today via the ridiculous sale of something like $3,000 concert tickets, FEQ actually embraces the average music fan via one of the most unique and affordable festival models in the world.

“We’re non-profit. It means that when we start our year, we don’t try to make profit out of the festival. We just try to break even. That’s the plan,” explained FEQ President and CEO Nicolas Racine.

“And we’re not feeding the secondary market,” Bellavance concurred, shaking his head.

“That doesn’t exist in the world I don’t think,” said Racine. “We receive some public funding. But that’s under 10%. Which is pretty special in Canada I would say. A lot of the large festivals will receive around 25% of public funding depending on their structure. But we’re under 10%,” he said. “So, let’s say you go to an arena or a stadium to see a show, the spread has increased over the years. But we’re still cheap. So, the fact that the price of tickets in the arena or stadium is really high makes us really appealing. Because you don’t need to be rich to come to the festival. It’s really affordable. We have a capacity to sell tickets that others don’t have because of the battlefield. That helps a lot.”

FEQ’s Unique Festival Model

FEQ’s unique setting within a natural amphitheatre helps make it possible to rein in prices where other similar events can’t. The festival takes place within the Plains of Abraham, a historic site located less than a mile from the Saint Lawrence River and picturesque downtown Québec which acted as setting for battles fought during the Seven Year War of the mid-1700s.

Naturally sloped, the huge outdoor expanse can hold around 100,000 people, a capacity which gives FEQ a bit of a built-in advantage, delivering a ticketing base which helps support the booking of significant headliners.

Showcasing a variety of American and Canadian talent, FEQ thrives thanks to its diverse artist roster. This year, acts like Limp Bizkit and Cypress Hill headline an evening of the festival with polar opposites like Michael Bublé following in the coming days. Such variance helps support the shareable pass, offering a little something for any music fan each night over the course of nearly two weeks.

The immense capacity boasted by the Plains of Abraham also helps allow FEQ to cater to the majority of music fans as opposed to concentrating their efforts solely on the sale of more expensive VIP passes, which generally represents a much smaller number of the total attendance. Selling general admission passes at a low price but at a higher volume has helped create a festival experience that’s sustainable even amidst rising artist rates and inflation that significantly impacts everything from travel to fuel and accommodations (and the price of tickets at each concert).

Superserving the general admission fans while offering a VIP experience for those willing to pay for it has helped the festival to achieve a rare balance.

“There’s a few ideas we have to go further in the experience for the general admission. We’re concerned and aware of the fan experience. We want to bring some kind of stand on the main field and keep it free so people in general admission can access a platform that you would typically sell - but we’ll keep it GA. So, that’s something we’ve been working on,” said Bellavance.

“Sometimes, honestly, it’s really basic stuff that makes the people happy,” added Racine. “More toilets, more water.”

FEQ Strikes A Balance

While the large venue and corporate sponsorships help reduce prices, so too does the Canadian government’s support of both festivals and the arts in a country that still places a premium upon the value of culture and music.

“It’s true in Canada. And it’s truer in the province of Québec. It goes back to the 80s at least. Maybe before that. But the government decided that festivals were an important part of our culture. You might find some similarities with some countries in Europe, places of the world where they’re very keen on placing the culture up front. That’s what happened here and we’re quite lucky,” said Bellavance.

“People are staying in town because of this festival,” said Racine. “They’re not going to go somewhere else and spend their money. So, it’s good for taxes. It’s good for hotels and restaurants and businesses. I know for a fact that the amount we receive, only with ticketing, they receive back at least two to three times what they’re giving us just in taxes. So, it’s a good business deal, I think, for them to finance a bit of our event. Because they get their money back anyway,” he said. “And we call that the staycation. They’re staying here. Reverse tourism. We’re keeping our people here and it’s good for business.”

The way in which FEQ takes full advantage of picturesque Québec City is virtually unparalleled in the festival sphere, with the Hydro-Québec stage, for example, one of the festival’s five stages, located alongside Fontaine de Tourny, a fountain located across from the old Québec parliament building.

And unlike many festivals, which tend to find concertgoers stranded for hours trying to exit campsites amidst the festival throng, FEQ is located literal steps from great restaurants and hotels.

This helps the festival to again strike a balance between music fans looking to travel while providing the local populace with great entertainment at a tremendous value.

FEQ Curates A Unique Festival Experience

Today’s festival is all about delivering a uniquely immersive on site experience. While American festivals have gradually become more and more predicated upon brand installations and expensive VIP packages that tend to render the actual lineup an afterthought, Festival d'été de Québec has managed to build a one-of-a-kind experience for music fans that’s not only affordable but increasingly fan-friendly despite the times.

Thanks to a unique support of both culture and the arts, and a little bit of happenstance, FEQ manages to fight off the general greed that has otherwise come to dominate the broader festival sphere, conjuring up a sort of vibe and goodwill that’s tough to duplicate.

“A big fish in a small pond. In this city, this is the thing. There’s a connection with the audience that you would only find in sports,” Bellavance explained. “Take the Green Bay Packers: small market but big brand and big team. Local ownership. In this case, we don’t own it. We can’t own FEQ. No one can get away with the profits. But the general feeling in the Québec population is that they pretty much own it. Just like the fans in Montreal feel like the Montreal Canadiens belong to them,” he said.

“We’re lucky. We are selling our tickets really fast. But we stay humble,” added Racine. “I think the city helps us a lot. Everybody helps us. But you just can’t reproduce that everywhere,” he said of what FEQ has built. “It’s unique.”