Festivals Insight × Lowlands

Not consultancy. Foresight. A private intelligence brief prepared exclusively for Lowlands’ leadership team.

The Challenge for Lowlands

Lowlands has built a reputation as Europe’s most forward-thinking festival — where music, art, theater, and culture meet. That breadth is its strength, but today the landscape presents new risks:

Ticket behaviour: Gen Z’s late buying stretches sales forecasts and increases budget risk.
Campaign strain: marketing costs rise while attention spans shrink — content cuts through less, even with great curation.
Audience complexity: balancing music fans, cultural explorers, and first-timers requires different triggers.
Competition: the European festival calendar is crowded; differentiation is harder to sustain.

Problem: Without foresight, programming and campaigns rely on instinct, not clarity — and that leaves budgets exposed.

The Festivals Insight Model

Festivals Insight delivers Creative Intelligence Briefs: monthly foresight documents designed for leadership. They decode audience behaviour and campaign performance *before* money is spent.

10-page foresight brief tailored to the Dutch market and Lowlands’ unique cultural mix.
Signals → implications → actions — so your team can execute directly.
One positioning call per month (if needed) + questionnaire to sharpen the next brief.
Exclusivity: one seat per country — the Netherlands is still open.

A Glimpse of the September Brief

Subject: “From Clout to Connection — Beyond the Headliner Economy”

Observation: In 2024, several top European festivals reported strong social reach from headliners but weaker-than-expected ticket conversion.
Implication for Lowlands: relying on headliners for loyalty risks diluting the festival’s cultural edge.
Recommended Play: Pair prestige acts with cultural programming (science, art, new music) framed as belonging rituals, not extras.
Execution Dependency: The framework comes from us, but conversion depends on your programming and campaign teams executing with precision.

“Data shows you what happened. Foresight shows you what to do next.”

Why Now, Why Lowlands

Lowlands has always defined itself by staying ahead of culture. By claiming the Netherlands’ exclusive seat, you set the standard for how foresight enters Europe’s festival industry.

Next Steps

This page is private and reserved exclusively for Lowlands’ leadership. We aim to confirm the Netherlands’ partner by September 30.

If aligned, the next step is a short call to walk through the model and secure the annual agreement.

Festivals Insight by Insight Engine • Private Preview • 2025–2026

Lina Ugrinovska
Founder, Insight Engine • Recording Academy Member