Dundee festival doof In The Park sells 15,000 tickets with no lineup
The instant sell-out of a 15,000-capacity Scottish festival without an announced lineup underscores the growing economic power of hyper-local nightlife brands in regional European markets.
Hannah Laing’s doof In The Park festival has sold out its entire 15,000-ticket allocation for 2025 instantly, despite not announcing a lineup at the time of sale. The event, taking place at Camperdown Park in Dundee, represents a significant scale-up from the 2024 edition, which hosted two nights at the city's Caird Hall. The rapid sales highlight a strong consumer appetite for regional electronic music events outside traditional European hub cities.
Laing launched the doof brand—encompassing events and a record label—as a deliberate strategy to keep her operations rooted in her hometown rather than migrating to larger markets. “I knew I always wanted to do a festival in Dundee because we don't have many venues,” Laing said. “We did two nights at the Caird Hall in 2024, the biggest venue in Dundee, but from the people on the waiting list, we could have done five nights. I didn’t want to go outside Dundee, so thought that if we want to keep it here, we're going to need to just build our own thing.”
This approach directly challenges the ongoing erosion of regional nightlife infrastructure across Europe. By building a dedicated hometown following over nearly a decade of local gigs, Laing has created a reliable domestic market that can sustain large-scale outdoor events. Dundee's population is 60 times smaller than London, making the 15,000-ticket sell-out a notable concentration of local and regional consumer spending.
The festival's commercial model relies heavily on a specific, older demographic. “I checked our ticket data from last year, and our highest ticket buyers were aged in the 34-49 bracket,” Laing noted. “So it's a majority older crowd, and I think they feel that my sets are bringing back the sound which they lived through.” Tapping into this demographic provides a more stable revenue base, as older attendees typically possess higher disposable income than the traditional student-heavy club demographic.
The immediate ticket sales allowed the organisers to secure a high-profile lineup that might otherwise bypass a Scottish regional event. The bill features Armin van Buuren, Judge Jules, Lisa Lashes, Charlie Sparks, and ØTTA. Securing a headliner of Van Buuren's calibre required creative deal-making. “I never thought I would have been able to get Armin van Buuren because obviously he's so in demand, he gets paid massive fees,” Laing explained. “He wasn't getting paid nearly as much as he usually would, so it shows a lot about him.”
Laing’s transition from working as a dental nurse until 2022 to securing a 2025 residency at Hï Ibiza and a Tomorrowland debut provides a blueprint for regional artists. Rather than relying on viral social media moments, the doof brand’s success is built on long-term regional touring and direct audience relationships. For regional economies, it demonstrates that investing in homegrown cultural brands can yield significant returns without relying on metropolitan tourism.
