Just Dance? The Economic Effects of the Ultra Europe Music Festival in Split

Abstract This paper identifies the economic impacts of the Ultra Europe Music Festival, a popular electronic music festival taking place in the city of Split. Using publicly available daily tax data on fiscalised amounts and the number of receipts, we examine the festival’s effects on taxable consumption of accommodation, food and drink services, retail, and taxi services. To isolate the causal effects, we employ two-way difference-in-difference and two-way event study on a daily frequency and county level, with other Dalmatian Adriatic counties as controls. Results reveal temporary positive effects on the consumption of food and drink services, taxi services, and, to a lesser extent, retail. However, no significant impact on accommodation is recorded, arguably due to the prevalence of non-fiscalised accommodation in private households. The positive effects on taxable dimensions of consumption are concentrated on festival days, with spillover effects present on the day following the event.