Music festivals are in the midst of an identity crisis: the 50th anniversary Woodstock festival has been cancelled, ticket prices have soared over the past decade, and their environmental impact has been criticized.

When the organizers of Woodstock's 50th anniversary music festival announced on July 31 - just two weeks before the event was scheduled to begin - that the memorial festival would be canceled, it came as little surprise.

The campaign faced difficulties from the start. In April, festival sponsor Dentsu Aegis Network said the festival had been cancelled due to security concerns. The organisers denied the claims, and the two sides went to court, before the former secured a new financial partner.

Originally scheduled to take place in Watkins Glen, New York, the festival was moved to Vernon, New York, and then to Maryland. Jay-Z and Miley Cyrus dropped out, and the festival was cancelled.

In a statement, co-founder Michael Lang said: "We are saddened that a series of unforeseen setbacks have brought the festival to a halt." Lang was one of the producers of the 1969 Woodstock Festival and was determined to fully embody the festival's original charm.

In January, he began selling a dream, saying, "We want it to be more than just going to a concert." He spoke of the spirit of activism, cultural resonance and the need to "change the world" through music festivals. Though his plans are vague, the implication is clear: he wants Woodstock's 50th anniversary to establish a legacy that will live on before it even exists.

Lang and his team seemed to pay little attention to whether the event was realistic - getting permits for a mass gathering, developing a security plan, calculating the festival's capacity - and that's where they failed, costing them $32 million in credits and causing irreparable damage to the Woodstock brand.

It's not the only festival to have been cancelled recently: the Livewire festival in Blackpool, England, was cancelled due to investor issues; Barcelona's Doctor Music Festival collapsed after environmental concerns and venue changes led to refund demands; Mamby on the Beach in Chicago was ruined by the presence of endangered birds. VestiVille music Festival in Belgium was suspended due to security and infrastructure issues. Where is the consensus? More important than competing with each other, these festivals need to prioritise the safety of their visitors and consider the wider implications.

What impact do music festivals have on the environment?

Woodstock once symbolized a utopian return to nature, but today's festivals are no longer the idyll they once were. In the UK, music festivals generate 23,500 tonnes of waste each year, of which only a third is recycled. Among the waste that ends up in landfill are disposable tents, with the Independent Music Festival Association estimating that 250,000 tents are discarded during festivals in the UK each year.

One-off festival costumes are part of the problem; The same goes for phosphors, which contain microplastics that can contaminate water supplies. Add to that excessive noise, lighting and air pollution caused by traffic, and you've got an event that has the potential to upend an entire ecosystem.

In the context of the global climate crisis, and with consumers increasingly demanding ethical practices from companies, everyone is scrambling to adapt. Sustainability is at the heart of Bonnaroo, a four-day music festival on a farm in Tennessee that publishes an annual report detailing its efforts to protect the land.

Not to be outdone, Oslo's music festival has banned diesel generators and introduced the concept of "eco-riders" to encourage artists to reduce their carbon footprint. Even Burning Man has vowed to change, releasing a 10-year sustainability roadmap to mitigate its impact on the Black Rock Desert.

What are music festivals doing to bridge social divisions?

Burning Man is also keen to rebrand itself in other ways. While its first edition was launched in 1986 as an anti-consumerist message, it has since evolved into a music festival for Silicon Valley's upstarts.

Tickets can cost as much as $1,400 each, and Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are among the festival's regulars. This year, growing concerns about the festival's cultural evolution prompted organizers to reassess ticket pricing in hopes of appealing to a more economically diverse audience.

Coachella has seen a similar drop in ticket prices, with the 2020 general admission wristband costing $399, compared to $429 in 2019. (Though after news broke that Philip Anschutz, owner of Coachella's parent company, had donated to anti-LGBTQ + groups, there was unease about where the money went.)

Many modern festivals, originally intended as platforms for the counterculture, have devolved into condescending clique that keep locals out of reach through inflated ticket prices, indulge in self-admiration, and exploit our fear of not being able to participate.

The culprit for fueling this evil in recent years is arguably the 2017 Fyre Festival. Two new documentaries, Hulu's Fyre Fraud and Netflix's Fyre, thrust the ugly show back into the spotlight. Using viral social media marketing, the festival promises a party in the Bahamas that attendees will never forget - if you can afford the $12,000 VIP package.

In fact, the audience was waiting for canceled performances and heavy rain that soaked the tents. Worst of all was the impact on the residents of Great Exuma Island. Event catering contractor Maryann Rolle said in an interview with Netflix that the festival organizers refused to pay, so she paid her staff out of her own $50,000 savings. "They leave without looking back," she said.

Are micro-music festivals the future?

The big festivals are jostling for space, while interest is growing in smaller events closer to the laid-back spirit of Woodstock in 1969.

Paul McCrudden, the company's UK head of marketing, thinks audience tastes are changing. "Mainstream music festivals are focused on appealing to as many people as possible, but that often means catering to the most basic mass tastes.

"Indie festivals have a more distinct character, and their creators are motivated by their passion, not just by the need to make money." Recent successes include Sol Blume in Sacramento, Wonderfruit in Thailand and Asa Baako in Ghana.

The cancellation of Woodstock's 50th anniversary festival was a wake-up call for the volatile music industry. The producers may think that such a heavyweight anniversary package can pay off, but the future of the festival depends on like-minded people working together. Big is not always good. Moreover, in a volatile financial environment, nothing is too big to fail.