These Were the Most Popular Events in 2022, According to Eventbrite

You may have found that your social calendar for 2022 has been a lot busier than it was two years prior. This year saw the return of live events in a big way, with people catching up on their personal passions after a period of uncertainty.

Event management and ticketing website Eventbrite reported that, in the first nine months of the year, it sold over 84 million tickets across its top five event categories—music, business and professional, food and drink, community and culture, and visual and performing arts.

From concerts and food festivals to gallery openings and professional networking events, these experiences are all driven by community and connection, two things that many people craved after quarantining and spending more time indoors.

With 28 million tickets sold, music events were the most popular among Eventbrite customers—New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago were the top cities for gigs and music-driven nights out. Over 95,000 concerts were hosted on the site in 2022, an increase of 51 percent year-on-year. Themed music nights were on the rise this year, too, seeing a huge interested in genre-specific events such as emo night, 80s night, and non-stop Taylor Swift club nights.

Food and drink events transacted more than 13 million tickets nationwide, proving that there is just something comforting about gathering with friends and family over a delicious meal. There were over 830,000 attendees to food festivals and related events on Eventbrite in 2022, up by 87 percent from 2021. Happy hour and themed brunch event attendance was up by 82 percent, and interest in charcuterie, cheese board and butter-board events has increased by 300 percent since 2019.

Looking ahead to 2023, despite inflation set to continue to rise, close to half (48 percent) of U.S. consumers surveyed say they’re willing to pay more for music events. 52 percent of survey respondents expect to attend more events in 2023, with 63 percent agreeing that attending an in-person event makes them feel less isolated or lonely.