My group wants to go to a festival this summer (like Osheaga or FEQ) but nobody really knows how much it costs in total. Is it just the ticket price or are there hidden fees? And if we camp on-site, is it cheaper than renting a room?
The ticket alone is like $150-300$ depending on the festival and which days, but you also gotta factor in camping ($50-100$ a night if it's available on site), food, alcohol, and parking fees - all in you're easily looking at $400-600$ per person for a weekend. Camping is definitely cheaper than a hotel room, and it's more fun with the crew anyway, but bring your own gear so you don't get ripped off.
It's easy to tell yourself "I'll just pay for my ticket" and end up with a bill twice as big by the end. The real cost is way more than just admission. You gotta factor in gas to get there (if it's far), parking which can be pricey, and yeah, on-site camping if that's available. But honestly, it's usually your best bet compared to renting a hotel room in the area - a room will easily cost you 150-200$ a night, while camping is like 50-80$ on-site. If you manage to split a camping spot with a few people, it becomes really affordable.
Then there's food and drinks. The restaurants and vendors on-site charge like double the normal price, it's a classic trap. Bring your own snacks and supplies if it's allowed, otherwise be prepared to spend a decent amount. Personally I'd say a full weekend per person, it's realistic to budget between 400-600$ total if you're splitting costs (ticket + camping + food + gas), unless there's a bunch of you in the same car and the same tent spot. It depends on the festival too - the big ones like Osheaga are generally a bit pricier than the smaller ones.
The real question is more like: how much do you actually want to spend, because it can blow up fast! Camping on site is generally cheaper than a hotel room, yeah, but don't forget you're gonna buy food at the festival and that stuff is super marked up. Parking and access fees are usually included in your ticket, but some festivals tack on online service fees that can be annoying. I'd say for a full weekend with camping, food, and a few drinks, you're looking at like 300-500$ per person easy - the ticket is just the tip of the iceberg!
Camping on-site saves you a decent amount of money compared to a hotel, but that's not really the biggest problem. The thing that's actually going to wreck your weekend budget is the food and drinks inside the festival. The vendors know you're trapped and you're gonna pay 15-20$ for a sandwich or a beer. A hack people often forget about: grab a cooler that's not too huge and fill it up before you get there. You bring sandwiches, snacks, fruit, even a water bottle or thermos. It's completely legal at most festivals and it can easily save you like 100-150$.
To give you a realistic idea, if you've got a ticket for 200$ and you're camping on-site (camping around 75$ if it's offered), you're looking at like 350$ base. But the actual bill is gonna be more like 500-600$ per person if you eat and drink like everyone else on the grounds. If you bring your own food and control your alcohol consumption a bit, you can get down to closer to 450$ total. Splitting gas between everyone helps too, obviously. Just tell your crew to bring food ahead of time - it really makes a difference.
Log into answer.
