Music Festival Craze: China sees surge of outdoor live music fests

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China has seen a boom in outdoor live music festivals in recent years. Reports say the number of large concerts and music festivals across the country grew by about 15 percent last year. And this increasingly popular lifestyle event for fans is helping the music industry, and many cities as well. CGTN's Yang Jinghao has more.

Waving their hands, screaming the lyrics, and hollering their idols' names. Fans rocked out in a wild way at this Mid-Autumn music scene, a three-day outdoor festival in the city of Chengdu. And outdoor concerts, like this one, are suddenly all the rage across China.

YANG JINGHAO CHENGDU "Actually, this is not the only music festival during this holiday. Ten years ago, there were just a few outdoor music parties around the country. Now the number has soared to several hundreds, and it continues to grow."

Beijing and Shanghai are no longer the only places with vibrant music scenes. Smaller cities now lure big names to their outdoor venues, and the crowds follow. Insiders say the growing market reflects a change in people's attitudes towards life.

ZORRO XU, PRESIDENT XIAOFENG MUSIC GROUP "Everyone turns to spiritual pursuits as their living standards improve, and I think live music is just one of the most advanced forms of expressing our spirit and soul."

The trend was spearheaded by a few well-known music festivals, such as Midi, dubbed the Chinese "Woodstock", and Strawberry.

Now more enterprises and even local governments are swarming to the market, though only a small portion can make profits.

They have found it's a useful marketing strategy, and a way to boost local tourism. And music fans are pleased with the progress.

ZHANG ZHEMING MUSIC FAN "Compared to previous years, now we have more opportunities to see the singers we like. Personally, I think the more music festivals we have, the better."

QU LIHANG MUSIC FAN "I think it will be a good thing if each music festival can be ensured with a high standard. But I will not be interested in badly-organized events."

For musicians, especially younger ones, live events serve as a platform to showcase their work - especially today with the era of CD's, and tapes gone, and Internet success being hit-or-miss.

CHEN JIABIN, LEAD SINGER MR. WELL BAND "I think this is a good trend. In the past, new bands like ours would not get so many good opportunities to perform. And I don't think the market is saturated."

Industry veteran Zorro Xu says the outdoor concert boom should help develop the industry well. And he believes the professional ones will ultimately win the majority of fans.

Yang Jinghao, CGTN, Sichuan Province.