From cashless food stalls to last-minute cancellations — vendors, artistes, and promoters navigate high stakes in the country’s growing concert economy
International hip hop festival rolling loud that just marked its debut entry into India
For a first-time vendor at the multi-genre music festival Lollapalooza India at Mahalaxmi Race Course this weekend, Chef Rahul Punjabi’s excitement is palpable. His brand, Bang Bang Noodles, is finally stepping beyond its usual geography —Goregaon — to a venue that draws audiences from across Mumbai and India. For Punjabi, the festival is about more than visibility. Past large-format events have driven strong demand, direct feedback, and genuine engagement, helping sharpen the brand. “It’s not just about sales. It tells us who we are and who we resonate with,” he says.
The onboarding, he adds, has been smooth. The Lollapalooza India team has been organised, responsive, and easy to reach over the phone and WhatsApp. “Yes, there’s a lot of documentation, but that’s expected at this scale.” After initial conversations, vendors are looped into a shared Google Drive to upload menus, equipment needs, and access layouts. “Everything is in one place, which helps, even when team members change.” A site recce ahead of the event completed the process.
Seasoned vendors, however, tell a different story. “These concerts are designed for organisers, not vendors,” says Priya Nagpal (name changed). “We pay to participate, sales run entirely through NFC systems, and payments can take months. There’s no cash flow — we spend weeks chasing our own money.”
Bandland’s last edition held in November 2024. The 2026 edition is off
Operational gaps add to the strain. “Communication is poor and infrastructure unreliable, with power cuts, burst pipes, long queues and more. We’re left handling angry customers without answers,” she says. Back-of-house conditions are even more challenging. “We’re expected to move 50–100 kilos of food and equipment without trolleys, trucks, or vehicle access near the venue. It’s physically brutal.”
Add revenue shares, security deposits, and multiple add-on charges, and margins shrink further, especially for smaller and newer brands. For festivals at this scale to be sustainable, organisers and vendors need a more collaborative operating model. Experienced vendors bring consistency and reliability; aligning expectations on both sides is key to a seamless event.
The warning is blunt: “Unless vendors are treated like partners, pulling off festivals of this scale in Mumbai will become unsustainable.”
Show must go on… until it doesn’t
According to PwC’s Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2025–29: India perspective (December 2025), India’s live music industry has expanded rapidly — from about $29 million in 2020 to $149 million in 2024 — and is projected to reach $164 million by 2029 at roughly 19 per cent CAGR. Growth is driven by global tours, rising festivals, and a digitally engaged audience. In 2024, Coldplay’s Ahmedabad tour alone generated an estimated R641 crore in economic impact, illustrating how individual mega-shows now shape the wider concert economy.
Lollapalooza began in 1991 as a touring alternative rock festival in the US and has since evolved into a global, multi-genre music brand. Anchored by its flagship annual edition in Chicago’s Grant Park, the festival now blends live performances with art and activism. Today, Lollapalooza is staged in cities worldwide, including Mumbai, Berlin and São Paulo, offering immersive music experiences. Pics Courtesy/Schubert Fernandes
Joint FICCI-EY data shows India recorded an all-time high of 70-80 large-format concert days in 2024, each drawing audiences of over 10,000. But the strain becomes visible when cancellations occur. The 15th edition of NH7 Weekender Pune 2024 was cancelled on the day it was set to begin after Pimpri-Chinchwad police denied permission, citing law-and-order concerns and severe traffic congestion at Teerth Fields. Bandland 2026, scheduled for February 14 and 15, was cancelled after headliner Muse pulled out, while John Mayer’s solo show has been postponed to February 11.
While vendors are sometimes given advance notice, brands are increasingly being dropped without formal communication, often close to the event date— by which point the risk shifts almost entirely to the vendor.
Most event contracts remain heavily weighted in favour of organisers, offering limited protection to food partners once preparations begin. Losses are immediate and largely unrecoverable. “Food is usually ordered well in advance. If it’s fresh and perishable and can’t be repurposed for a restaurant or another assignment, it’s a direct loss,” says restaurateur, Shivam Naik (name changed). “Menus are curated specifically for each event. Even when stock can be redirected, there’s no guarantee it will suit another format, audience, or scale.”
Chef Rahul Punjabi, Roydon Bangera and GirisH Talwar
Staffing costs depend on timing. “If a cancellation happens early enough and staff haven’t been called in, that cost may be avoided. But casual labour — daily-wage workers who depend on concert gigs — lose out entirely,” Naik adds. In many cases, advances have already been paid and cannot be recovered.
Logistics further compound the exposure. Equipment rentals — particularly refrigerated trucks — are booked well in advance and typically secured with non-refundable deposits. “There have been instances where cancellations occurred after trucks were already en route. At that point, it’s a complete write-off. The food is often donated, and the loss is absorbed,” he says.
The fallout is uneven across the ecosystem. “Smaller vendors are especially vulnerable,” says Nagpal. “Many begin production two to three weeks in advance. Home bakers and small teams operating out of compact kitchens are often left with significant dead stock when an event is cancelled.” Even vendors with physical restaurants report losses of at least 30 per cent on perishables.
Despite the risks, most vendors continue to sign up for large-format concerts because the visibility is hard to replace. In a fragmented market, presence at major live events remains critical. Nagpal, however, is cautious. “Given the level of unprofessionalism we’re seeing now, many established brands are likely to prioritise their core businesses (restaurants, cafés, and catering) over large-scale events. Event companies often behave as though they hold all the leverage, but that imbalance is already being questioned,” she adds.
A global phenomenon
Schubert Fernandes, an avid concertgoer, says concert cancellations aren’t unique to India — they happen everywhere. Last year, he flew to Prague for a Bruce Springsteen show that was cancelled a day before the event after the artiste contracted an infection and was advised to rest his voice, leading to rescheduled dates in June 2025. “It was a brutal, expensive reminder that fans carry the risk too. What’s worrying now isn’t cancellations themselves, but their growing frequency.”
Fernandes feels that if one out of every 15 or 20 concerts gets cancelled, there’s little reason for alarm. “For casual attendees or first-timers, especially those who lose money, it absolutely is. Trust is fragile,” he says, adding, “I go for the artiste, and occasional disruption is part of the deal, especially when the organiser has a solid reputation.”
The deeper issue, Fernandes argues, is infrastructure. “No Indian city, Mumbai included, is built to host concerts and festivals at this scale. That’s a systemic failure — of planning, policy, and a mindset that still doesn’t treat live entertainment as a legitimate economic engine.” Ticket sales add further pressure. When numbers fall short, organisers are forced to change venues, downsize, or cancel. “It’s a tightly wound cycle.”
Even so, he remains optimistic. “The ecosystem is still finding its feet. Big acts are lined up, the appetite is real, and for now, I’m still showing up,” he signs off.
The ripple effect
Cancellations in the live entertainment ecosystem trigger ripple effects far beyond a single lost show or a festival. Roydon Bangera, chief business officer at SkillBox, says that for promoters, the impact is immediate — financial and reputational. Ticket refunds are mandatory even though most costs are already sunk, artists are already paid, sponsors may withdraw, and communication must be carefully managed to avoid legal and trust issues. Beyond short-term losses, the greater risk is long-term damage to brand credibility, future ticket sales, and the confidence of artistes and sponsors.
For ticketing platforms, the challenge is different. Their role is to balance customer trust with contractual responsibility. While audiences expect quick refunds and clear communication, platforms operate within the constraints of promoter agreements, payment gateways, and banking timelines.
Yet demand has not collapsed. While price sensitivity persists, India’s concert market is maturing, and audiences increasingly recognise that cancellations can result from factors beyond a promoter’s control — such as infrastructure gaps, artist cancellation, permissions, or shifting government protocols. Strong demand for VIP tickets and the early sellout of fan pits suggest a willingness to pay more for certainty and experience.
The deeper cut
For artistes, cancellations are about more than money — momentum is often the hardest loss to recover, says Girish ‘Bobby’ Talwar, founder of Rebellion Management who has also been the co-founder of OML and NH7 Weekender, who has helped bring several global acts to India. Touring musicians operate in a tightly wound rhythm, living out of suitcases, travelling constantly, rehearsing on the road, and performing night after night. When a show is cancelled, that rhythm breaks, affecting confidence, stage readiness, and the ability to stay “in the zone,” requiring mental and emotional recalibration.
Talwar explains how the scale matters. Smaller, plug-and-play performances are easier to reschedule. At the same time, large-format stadium or arena tours, with massive crews and containerised equipment, are far less flexible and often require rerouting entire tour legs. He shares how contracts have evolved alongside this complexity. “Where agreements once focused mainly on fees, they now detail cancellation clauses, minimum production standards, venue readiness, and permissions, reflecting growing professionalism in India’s live events sector. Artiste managers remain focused on fundamentals: payments, taxation, travel, accommodation, safety, and logistics. Only once these are secured do discussions move to production, marketing, and sponsorships,” he adds.
Artistes, Talwar notes, are increasingly selective, prioritising quality over quantity. Credibility matters, and repeated cancellations or poor experiences can quickly erode a promoter’s standing.
Despite these frictions, India’s live concert economy remains resilient. Built steadily over two to three decades and accelerated by post-COVID demand, it has evolved into a sustainable ecosystem that continues to grow.
Pic/iStock
Rs 641 CR
Economic impact of Coldplay’s Ahmedabad tour, illustrating how individual mega-shows now shape the wider concert economy
50-100
Kilograms of food each vendor hauls to concert venues
Pic/iStock
What is NFC?
NFC (Near Field Communication) systems enable cashless payments at concerts, letting attendees pay for food and drinks with a single tap using wristbands, cards, or smartphones, cutting transaction time and reducing queues.
Recently Cancelled/Postponed Concerts
. Bandland 2026 (Mumbai): Cancelled after headliner Muse pulled out.
. John Mayer (Mumbai): Postponed from January 2026 to February 11, 2026, due to unforeseen circumstances.
. Tiësto (Delhi and Kolkata): January 2026 shows in Delhi (JLN Grounds) and Kolkata were cancelled, while the Mumbai (Dome NSCI) show remained scheduled.
. Cigarettes After Sex (Bengaluru): Cancelled in January 2025 due to technical issues and venue shifts.
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