​Ratio of women on festival line-ups has increased by 18% in the last decade

A new study conducted by female:pressure has revealed that the number of women lining festival bills over the past ten years has risen by 18%.

While the stats still aren’t in favour of female, trans, and non-binary artists — a gradual increase has revealed the trajectory that the industry could be on.

In female:pressure’s FACTS 2022 survey, they reported that 26.9% of people booked for festivals over the course of 2020 and 2021 were women, while a further 1.3% were non-binary and 9.1% were "mixed."

Read this next: Listen to a playlist of women and non-binary artists shaping the face of dance music in 2021

The study looked into gender distribution across multiple line-ups starting in 2012, where just 9% were made up of female artists.

Surveys taken between 2020 and 2021 were said to be less representative due to the pandemic, although female:pressure were still able to collect data from 159 different festivals, 109 of which were unique.

“In order to quantify the response of festival organizers to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FACTS 2022 survey collected data on how the festival was presented [onsite, online, or hybrid],” they revealed.

In 2021, almost 27% of line-ups were made up of female artists - 18% more than in 2012. Over the past ten years, data has been collected from 833 different festivals from 48 countries.

Read this next: New survey finds that 98% of female artists suffer performance anxiety

Reporting a further look into regions, ratios varied from country to country and showed a huge contrast in different regions. In Europe, 31% of all artists recorded were female, while in North America, that number dropped to just 22%.

A breakdown between countries also revealed that Slovenia stood in the best stead for gender inclusivity with a near 50/50 split of female, non-binary and trans artists.

Elsewhere, Portugal took the bottom spot on the list with just 9.2% female artists, 0.2% non-binary, and 2% ‘mixed’. The total number of men lining festival bills over the past decade sits at 86.8%.

Find the full study here.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Editorial Assistant, follow her on Twitter