From Travis Scott to Zakir Khan, live events hit a festive high; concerts, comedy drive demand

He added that Passenger (Michael Rosenberg), loved worldwide for his hit ‘Let Her Go’, will embark on a three-city India tour this November, performing in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

"Adding to the list of global firsts, Grammy Award-winning virtuoso Jon Batiste will make his India debut with performances in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai. December will see a line-up of international powerhouses - Tom Morello will make his India debut as part of Bandland on Tour, while Post Malone will perform his first-ever show in the North East," he said.

Canadian singer and rapper AP Dhillon will bring his One of One India Tour, an eight-city arena run this December.

Beyond music, the company's event portfolio includes third edition of beauty and lifestyle festival Nykaaland which will debut in Delhi-NCR this year.

Makhija pointed out that the strong lineup will continue in 2026 with the fourth edition of Lollapalooza India returning to Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi Racecourse, headlined by Linkin Park and Playboi Carti.

"Soon after, The Lumineers will perform their exclusive India show in Delhi-NCR, bringing their heartfelt folk-rock sound to Indian fans. Bandland 2026, BookMyShow’s rock and alternative music Intellectual Property (IP), returns for its third edition in Bengaluru, featuring Muse and Train as headliners," he said.

Popular singer Sonu Nigam will be on a seven-city tour called Satrangi Re India, Co-produced by BookMyShow in March next year.

TribeVibe Entertainment which caters to the GenZ (born between late 1990s and early 2010s) audience also has a packed calendar which started with Vishal-Shekhar’s Super Hit Tour in Mumbai and Delhi, followed by Navratri shows featuring Falguni Pathak in Mumbai and Aditya Gadhvi in Ahmedabad.

"We currently have several events from comedy tours including Vir Das’ Sounds of India and Zakir Khan’s Papa Yaar to Armaan Malik Live, McDowell’s Soda Yaari Jam, which spans 15 cities across the country, SANAM’s India Tour and Karthik Live travelling across South India, with more shows and artists yet to be announced," Shoven Shah, Founder & CEO, TribeVibe Entertainment, said.

One of the biggest electronic dance music festivals of India---Sunburn which this year is happening in Mumbai and not Goa in December will have a mix of international and Indian talent.

"We’ve announced some of the biggest international acts ready to take the stage, from David Guetta, Sara Landry, Axwell and Above & Beyond headlining Sunburn Festival 2025, set to mark a new chapter as it brings its flagship edition to India’s entertainment capital, Mumbai, for the first time, to Sunburn Arena shows and India tours by Afrojack, DJ Snake, Calvin Harris and others," Karan Singh, CEO, Sunburn told Moneycontrol.

Zee Entertainment's live division will be hosting a Marathi music event called Marathi Vajlach Pahije, giving a chance to hip-hop, indie music and street artists. "We have an exciting line-up of events for the next few months," Gareth Thomas, Business Head, Zee Live, said.

During this year's festive season, JetSynthesys' live entertainment patform JetAlive is foraying into India’s live entertainment industry with two debut events including K-Town 3.0, scheduled in Mumbai on November 1 and The Re:Sound Lucky Ali India Tour, beginning November 2, noted Kumar Razdan, Head of JetAlive.

India’s live events industry grew 15% in 2024, and JetAlive’s pipeline is ready to mirror that market momentum, he added.

Festive high

The festive period holds special significance in India's live entertainment calendar, said Rahul Ganjoo, CEO, District by Zomato, adding that their live events portfolio for the festive period remains strong.

"The festive period marks the beginning of our peak season as weather conditions become ideal for large-scale outdoor events. Also, festive weeks drive a surge in discovery and bookings as people step out to celebrate and experience events together. Typically, the October–December period contributes a significant portion of our annual live-events demand, and this season, we are already seeing early indicators of stronger intent. Demand is clearly up, driven by a richer event calendar," Ganjoo said.

Makhija said that this year's festive season is gearing to be one of the most vibrant periods. "With the festive season commencing earlier this year and Dussehra and Diwali had arrived in close succession, we saw healthy consumer participation translating into steady growth across live entertainment categories, particularly in music, comedy and large-format shows."

The number of events ticketed on BookMyShow in 2025 till date, has exceeded last year’s tally.

TribeVibe's Shah also pointed to a strong demand this year, with early indicators pointing to a surge compared to last year. "On average, ticket sales are hovering around 90% across most of our shows, with near full-house attendance becoming the norm."

Sunburn's Singh pointed to Martin Garrix's performance earlier this year for Holi, as part of the Sunburn Arena Tour. "The stadium show sold out to a crowd of 50,000, with a truly iconic moment when Arijit Singh joined him on stage for their release ‘Angels For Each Other’."

He added that Alan Walker’s 13-city Walkerworld Tour drew record-breaking crowds of over 2,00,000.

Last year, BookMyShow saw 30,687 live events across 319 cities, an 18% growth in India's live entertainment consumption. Tier-2 cities such as Kanpur, Shillong and Gandhinagar saw a remarkable 682% rise in live events.

"The overall trajectory remains steady and we anticipate growth to sustain through the festive and holiday period, with December expected to see a modest rise in event listings and attendance as year-end celebrations draw near," Makhija said.

Shah added that a stronger artist-fan connect, post-pandemic lifestyle shifts toward experience-led leisure and a broadened event portfolio is driving India's live events business.

"The live entertainment market in India has expanded rapidly, with an influx of touring artists, festivals and large-scale Intellectual Properties (IPs)," he said.

"We recently had Francis Mercier perform to an energetic crowd in Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad too. When we started out nearly two decades ago, the idea of large-format dance music festivals in India was still new. Today, India stands firmly on the global touring map, not as an emerging market, but as an essential stop for some of the world’s biggest artists," Karan Singh said.

Singh is expanding Sunburn globally with its first-ever international edition ---- Sunburn Abu Dhabi 2026.

More international artists and festivals are choosing India, and consumers are responding enthusiastically, Ganjoo noted. "What's striking is the premiumisation we are witnessing, audiences are willing to pay significantly more for quality venues, world-class production, and top-tier talent."

Razdan comparing the first two editions of K-Town event. Footfall for the second edition of K-Town in December last year more than doubled to 7,000 from 2,000 during the first edition in February 2024 and the average ticket value nearly tripled from Rs 3,200 to Rs 9,000.

Concerts, comedy and cheer

He also pointed out that music dominates in terms of genre with large-format concerts and festival IPs leading bookings. "Regional cultural events like Garba nights in Gujarat,drive massive local participation, while comedy continues its rapid growth as an urban entertainment staple."

Makhija noted that music tourism has surged with 4.77 lakh fans travelling outside their home cities for live events, including Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour in Ahmedabad, which drew audiences from over 500 cities across 28 states.

"While music remains the heartbeat of TribeVibe, this year, we have seen comedy emerge as a strong parallel vertical. Artists have sold out multiple arena-scale shows across metros. Comedy as a genre has grown almost threefold compared to last year in terms of ticket volumes and frequency," Shah said.