Why would a music festival have high fixed costs and lower variable costs?

Answer 1

Because most of the items required to run the event are ordered in advance and must be in place whether the crowd is big or small: stage, the musical acts, chairs, the hot dog vendor, the security force, the ticket takers, the fence, the parking attendants, the woman selling the posters, etc.

The only variable costs are: the food consumed, the beer consumed, the broken fence, etc. And most of these bring in some variable revenue.