Almost non-existent before the covid-19 crisis, virtual festivals have since become very popular as they allow the audience to experience a show similar to what they have in real life with many different artists from anywhere in the world
Virtual festivals mimic real-life festivals, but they also bring many other benefits.
Virtual festivals can not provide the audience with the communion of authentic festivals, but they are way better in other aspects.
Ease of organization
In real life, it's tough to organize a festival or even a night-long party with many artists. Scheduling, traveling, resting time, everything can easily be a nightmare. No more trouble like that, a virtual festival can be performed from anywhere (bar, club, in nature, home), and any artist can be in a different place. When actual celebrations require months of preparation, virtual festivals only need a few days to synchronize with the artist and promote online.
Costs
By eliminating all hurdles from the organization, you also save on these costs. Basically, with someone already having gear, costs can be reduced to zero. You only need HR and software to do the switch from one stream to another one on the broadcasting side (as it should be a continuous stream for viewers) and use existing free (e.g., Twitch) or cheap (e.g., Mixcloud) for your festival. DJing provides such software to monitor all incoming streams and switch seamlessly between artists, either with manual action or automatic, scheduled one at only €1 per hour. Of course, for-pay festivals can either integrate a ticketing solution or use DJing self-hosted solution to sell tickets and secure streams.
Worldwide audience
By offering a virtual festival, you can reach people you will never reach in real life (for economic, distance, or organizational reasons). No single individual with an internet connection could not attend your event.
No third party for tickets
With your ticketing solution, or DJing one, you can directly get payments to land on your bank account. No more commission, no more trouble in managing ticketing at the entrance of an event.