Since the pandemic, the live entertainment industry has struggled to regain its footing. Festivals across the country are downsizing, restructuring, or shutting down altogether as organizers grapple with rising production and venue costs, mounting sponsorship pressure, shifting consumer spending habits, and softer ticket sales. CNN has documented the slowdown, reporting that dozens of festivals were canceled before the summer season even began.
For Black-owned festivals, the stakes are even higher. Many of these events serve as more than concert experiences. They are cultural institutions, economic engines for Black-owned businesses, and spaces that unapologetically celebrate community, creativity, and entrepreneurship. Yet unlike many large-scale corporate festivals, Black-owned events often operate without the same financial backing, sponsorship networks, or safety nets needed to weather industry downturns.
The impact is increasingly visible. Pharrell Williams’ Something in the Water has been dormant since 2023, after its 2024 edition was postponed and Virginia Beach ended its sponsorship agreement. The Essence Festival spent this summer working to win back attendees following criticism of last year’s event, with projected hotel occupancy running below the previous year across the holiday weekend. As costs rise and the live events market grows more competitive, an important question emerges: How do Black-owned festivals survive when scale increasingly determines success?
A growing number of artists, promoters, festival owners and entertainment professionals have been candid about the shifting landscape. Jabari Johnson, founder of COLORS Worldwide and its R&B Only live series, has written publicly about undersold festivals, production breakdowns, and the financial realities of scaling live experiences. Singer Melanie Fiona has spoken about the promotional costs artists absorb behind the scenes that audiences rarely see. Their perspectives highlight a reality many consumers may not fully understand. While demand for Black performers and Black culture remains strong, the business of curating, producing and sustaining these experiences has become increasingly difficult.
Broccoli City offers a timely case study. Rather than staging its traditional multi-day festival this year, the DMV mainstay has condensed its 2026 installment into Holding Hands: An R&B Experience, presented by AT&T, set for September 19 at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia. Organizers framed the change as a reinvention rather than a retreat, telling supporters the festival isn’t going anywhere — it is simply being done differently. That pivot captures both the possibilities and the pressures facing Black-owned cultural events in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
The reinvention also reflects a commitment to affordability at a time when concert and festival prices continue to climb, with tickets starting at $25. Brandon McEachern, co-founder of Broccoli City, says accessibility remains central to the organization’s mission.
“We’ve been very intentional about keeping Holding Hands, presented by AT&T, accessible. We know people are feeling the pressure of the economy right now, and at the same time, concert ticket prices have gotten out of reach for a lot of people. We wanted to create an experience where our community could see some of the biggest names in R&B without having to choose between a great night out and their everyday responsibilities. For us, affordability is part of making sure the culture we celebrate remains accessible to the people who drive it.”
While rising costs, declining attendance, and shifting consumer spending have dominated conversations around festival sustainability, another factor deserves far more attention: visibility.
As a communications professional, I’ve seen firsthand how the very tools that drive audience awareness are often the first to be scaled back when budgets tighten. As festivals downsize and organizers search for ways to remain profitable, investments in public relations, media outreach, advertising, content creation and influencer partnerships are frequently reduced. Yet these are the efforts that build anticipation and ultimately drive ticket sales.
A festival’s success is not determined solely by the strength of its lineup. It also depends on how effectively that lineup is marketed. Festivals now compete not only with other live events but with streaming platforms, sporting events, and travel for the same discretionary dollar. Simply announcing artists on social media is no longer enough. Sustained campaigns, strategic media placements, influencer engagement, and audience-focused storytelling are essential to keeping festivals top of mind.
Public relations and marketing should not be viewed as expenses to be cut during difficult periods. They are investments in revenue generation, audience development, and long-term sustainability.
At the same time, the responsibility for promotion cannot rest solely on festival organizers. Creating visibility requires a collaborative effort between promoters, labels, publicists, and artists themselves. Too often, artists fail to consistently promote festival appearances across their platforms, create limited content surrounding their performances, decline interview opportunities or treat festival bookings as isolated appearances rather than strategic partnerships.
If artists are the primary draw for audiences, they should play a greater role in helping festivals build awareness and drive ticket sales. At a time when many Black-owned festivals are fighting to remain sustainable, promotion must be a shared responsibility among everyone benefiting from the event’s success.
Because a sold-out festival doesn’t begin at the gate. It begins months earlier, with strategic promotion, media visibility and active participation from the artists audiences are paying to see. The problem isn’t always a lack of demand for Black culture. Black audiences continue to show up for experiences they value. The greater challenge is whether enough resources are invested to keep those audiences informed, engaged and excited long before the first performer takes the stage.
Black culture continues to drive entertainment and shape industry trends, but influence alone does not guarantee sustainability. The challenge facing Black-owned festivals is bigger than selling tickets for a single weekend. It requires a collective commitment from organizers, artists, media, brands and audiences who recognize the cultural value these events bring. Ultimately, their future may depend on whether the industry is willing to treat them as cultural institutions worth preserving rather than events expected to survive on passion alone.
Valentine is a Washington, D.C.–based publicist, communications strategist and founder of The Pitch Guy. On TikTok he’s @Thepitchguy
