Subkultfestivalen fights for survival, crowdfunding campaign launched

Once again, one of the few alternative open air festivals in Sweden has to report worrying news: After Sabaton Open Air, Gefle Metal Festival and Gravefest, Subkultfestivalen is now announcing that it is fighting for its survival.

Subkultfestivalen was started as a successor to the Arvika Festival (Swedish: Arvikafestivalen) which went bankrupt in 2011, due to low ticket sales. Since 2016, Subkultfestivalen has been held six times: The first four years in Trollhättan and the past two years in Vänersborg. In order to be able to organise Subkultfestivalen for at least one more year, a crowdfunding campaign has been launched on GoFundMe. Regarding the cause of the financial difficulties, the festival explains that it has “been hit hard by the pandemic, inflation, lost grants and also fierce competition”. Furthermore, fewer tickets were sold for the 2023 edition of the festival than in previous years. The stated goal of the crowdfunding campaign is to “bounce back”.

Subkultfestivalen’s GoFundMe campaign can be found and supported here, along with a detailed statement by festival director Mirre Sennehed in which the current situation is explained. The statement also exists in video format and can be checked out below: