Desert Trip tickets selling for half-price

The Rolling Stones (Image credit: Getty)

Tickets for the highly touted Desert Trip festival in California are now selling for half their original value.

The first festival gets underway at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, today (October 7) and features the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, the Who and Roger Waters. It runs across the whole weekend, with a second edition taking place on October 14-16.

Both festivals sold out within hours of being announced – but ticket prices on the secondary market have plummeted, with some passes selling for less than half their original $400 value.

StubHub are listing three-day tickets for between $145-$195, although one-day tickets are selling for $300, while VividSeats have them from $148.

The news comes just two weeks after the concert’s promoter Goldenvoice released more tickets on to the market, which is thought to have put a dent in secondary market prices.

Editor in chief of Pollstar Gary Bongiovanni tells Bloomberg: “The basic game of the secondary market is gambling and speculation – it’s pork belly futures.

“Everyone thought this would be a hot show, and it was, but obviously there isn’t a huge market of people willing to pay even more to access tickets.”

Desert Trip is held on the same site as Coachella, leading some to refer to the event as ‘OldChella.’

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Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.