All Access Special Edition: Festival Season Headlines, March 25

Your festival season edition of All Access is here. With Coachella kicking off April 10 and a packed spring / summer calendar ahead, this week we’re focused entirely on the trends, tech, and business stories shaping the music festival industry right now.

Latest Trend Watch: Festival Season

Tech Is Transforming the Festival Business: From the Stage to the Staffing Office As festival season kicks off, AI-powered crowd management, RFID cashless systems, and data-driven workforce scheduling are reshaping how major events operate. Music festivals now lead global adoption of RFID cashless payments, speeding transactions, reducing staffing needs at concessions, and generating real-time behavioral data. Read more.

Latest Trend Watch: Festival Season

Week of July 7, 2025

In the News

Touring and Live Event Insights

Coachella 2026: Scale, Sellout, and What It Means for the Industry: The 25th edition of Coachella (April 10–19, Indio, CA) sold out within a week of its announcement. Headliners Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, and Karol G drew record demand. Managing 125,000 daily attendees across two weekends and a sprawling desert venue makes it one of the most operationally complex events of the year.

Touring and Live Event Insights

Venue and Operations Watch

Festival Infrastructure Tech: Smarter Entry, Safer Grounds: From AI-powered crowd monitoring and drone safety systems to encrypted NFC wristbands replacing paper tickets, major festivals are upgrading infrastructure ahead of 2026. These investments improve throughput, reduce fraud, and allow staff to focus on higher-value guest interactions.

Venue and Operations Watch

Music and Industry Strategy

Sponsorships and Revenue Innovation: Festivals in 2026 are overhauling sponsorship models by leveraging real-time data to prove ROI to brands, while tapping into streaming and virtual access as emerging revenue streams.

Music and Industry Strategy

Sports and Entertainment Crossovers

Blending Live Sports and Entertainment: ESPN and Disney launched a joint marketing campaign culminating in a 24-hour multiplatform event called The Handoff, traveling from SoFi Stadium to Disneyland to mark ESPN's first-ever Super Bowl broadcast.

Sports and Entertainment Crossovers

Festival Calendar: Spring / Summer 2026

A quick-reference list of major upcoming music festivals

ICYMI: Other Stories We’re Watching

Tony Awards 2025–26 Calendar: Nominations May 5; 79th Annual ceremony June 7 at Radio City Music Hall, broadcast live on CBS and Paramount+.
Festival Lineup Guide: Comprehensive U.S. festival coverage, including dates, headliners, locations, and ticket prices.
VENU Capital Raise: Entertainment and hospitality company VENU raised $86.25M to expand premium live entertainment destinations across Colorado, Texas, and Oklahoma.

Meet our team at these upcoming events:

Pollstar Live! Happy Hour | Los Angeles | April 14 & 15, 2026
Join the Cast & Crew-hosted NIVA Happy Hour at The Troubadour on April 15 at 7:30 p.m., a can’t-miss networking opportunity for live entertainment professionals.
Team Member(s) Attending: Todd Dyer, Lizette Gomez, Sam Lankie, Keith Gibson, T.J. Sagen, and Dina Meyers

Use our free guide to plan every festival crew and cost

Festival season means big crews, tight timelines, and complex labor costs. This guide uncovers every component of labor spend, from load-in to load-out, helping you plan and execute multi-day events efficiently.

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Contact the sports & live entertainment team for your payroll needs.

INDUSTRY NEWS, PEOPLE AND CULTURE

CAPS' Todd Dyer Interviews Evan Bailey about the Return of the Ubbi Dubbi Festival in April

10 Minute Read
03/25/2021

Latest Trend Watch: Festival Season

Latest Trend Watch: Festival Season

Touring and Live Event Insights

Touring and Live Event Insights

Venue and Operations Watch

Venue and Operations Watch

Music and Industry Strategy

Music and Industry Strategy

Sports and Entertainment Crossovers

Sports and Entertainment Crossovers

Meet our team at these upcoming events:

Use our free guide to plan every festival crew and cost

CAPS' Todd Dyer Interviews Evan Bailey about the Return of the Ubbi Dubbi Festival in April

Festival Sustainability: Paving the Way for Eco-Friendly Events

All Access Bi-weekly Headlines February 4

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Latest Trend Watch: Festival Season

Latest Trend Watch: Festival Season

Touring and Live Event Insights

Touring and Live Event Insights

Venue and Operations Watch

Venue and Operations Watch

Music and Industry Strategy

Music and Industry Strategy

Sports and Entertainment Crossovers

Sports and Entertainment Crossovers

Meet our team at these upcoming events:

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CAPS' Todd Dyer Interviews Evan Bailey about the Return of the Ubbi Dubbi Festival in April

Festival Sustainability: Paving the Way for Eco-Friendly Events

All Access Bi-weekly Headlines February 4

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