As we count down to 2019, Ticket Club is reviewing the past year in the entertainment industry. Follow along with our series as we explore the best of 2018’s live events, determined by internal sales data.
Music festivals were bigger than ever in 2018, but Nashville’s annual CMA Fest came out on top as the best-selling festival of the bunch.
The 2018 CMA Fest featured all-star headliners Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood and Brothers Osborne. In addition, dozens of other performers joined them in Nashville for a memorable music bash. The country music extravaganza took over Music City’s Nissan Stadium for four days in June, offering up an incredible line-up of music that caused four-day passes to be the hottest festival ticket on the market this year.
Along with the jam-packed music schedule inside Nissan Stadium, CMA Fest passes also granted fans transportation between various Nashville stages that also housed performances and the opportunity to meet some of country’s biggest stars.
The always-popular Coachella returned as one of the best-selling music festivals of 2018. Passes for its first weekend came in right behind CMA Fest and second-weekend passes were the fifth highest-seller. This year’s massive gathering in the Coachella Valley was one for the record books. Fans were finally able to witness Beyoncé in the headlining slot, after she was forced to delay her scheduled 2017 performance.
Queen Bey gave a showstopping performance that all fans in attendance would say was worth every penny of their festival ticket. Highlights included appearances from both Destiny’s Child and Jay-Z. Eminem and The Weeknd served as Coachella’s other two headlining acts, giving it a heavy dose of star power. The Weeknd was also a headliner at Lollapalooza, which earned the No. 3 rank.
Yet another country festival made the list at No. 4. Fans were eager to see George Strait, Chris Stapleton, Little Big Town and Kacey Musgraves headline New Orleans’ Bayou Country Superfest.
See the full list below.
Ticket Club’s Top 5 Best-Selling Music Festivals of 2018
- CMA Fest – 4 Day Pass
- Coachella – Weekend 1, 3 Day Pass
- Lollapalooza – 4 Day Pass
- Bayou Country Superfest
- Coachella – Weekend 2, 3 Day Pass
Want to see more posts like this? Check out the rest of our Year in Review series here.