ORGANISERS OF the UK Festival Awards have today announced details of their annual UK Festival Conference, which takes place the day of the Awards, Tuesday 15 November. Now in its 4th year, the UK Festival Conference is the only event that brings the festival industry together for a day of debates, discussion, networking and information sharing. Panel discussions at the [...]

POLICE SAY the close working between officers and on-site security staff from G4S at V Festival Staffordshire saw crime levels at the event remain low. Dave Holdway superintendent, local policing for Newcastle, Moorlands, East Staffs and Stafford said: “Another successful V Festival operation saw crime levels remain low. This was due in no small measure to the joint working between [...]

A FUND has been set up for the families of people killed during a violent storm at Belgium’s Pukkelpop festival. Staging collapsed and giant screens fell when the storm struck Hasselt, eastern Belgium last month. Four people died and more than 70 were injured, prompting the immediate cancellation of the three-day event. Organisers vowed that “the full amount of every [...]

FESTIVAL TRADE body the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) says contrary to media reports of a difficult sales market, a number of its members’ events have sold out, some for the first time and others at record speed. Camp Bestival, Green Man and Bestival have all sold out this year joining Creamfields and boutique festivals Kendal Calling and End of [...]

A PROPORTION of tickets for next year’s Co-operative Cambridge Folk Festival went on sale almost immediately after this year’s event closed its gates, following another sold-out festival. Cambridge City Council, which organises the Festival put one third of the total allocation of tickets on sale on 1 August, with the remainder being available at later stages in the build up [...]

FIVE PEOPLE were killed and dozens injured when a violent storm hit Pukklepop festival in northern Belgium on Thursday, uprooting trees and collapsing two stages. The remainder of the 65,000-capacity event, due to run until Saturday, was cancelled by organisers as a result of the storm, which also blew down giant screens. “We simply could not carry on,” said organiser [...]

STOMPIN’ ON The Quomps festival organisers say they are delighted at attendance figures of 6,000 – an increase of 20 per cent on last year. Although free to attend, audiences are invited to donate to help cover costs. Donations increased from £750 to £2,659 this year, while income from traders rose 62 per cent. “As an al fresco event we [...]

OXJAM, THE festival of gigs raising money for Oxfam has appointed WeGotTickets as its official ticketing partner. Running throughout October, Oxjam is aiming for 1,000 events and 33 city “Takeovers”, for which the festival has become known. WeGotTickets have launched the Oxjam portal at www.wegottickets.com/oxjam listing all the Oxjam events they are handling. This will offer gig-goers a one-stop shop [...]

POLICE HAVE been granted extra powers to help keep crime low at this year’s Reading Festival. The dispersal orders, which allow police to move on groups of people from certain areas, helped reduce crime at last year’s event, police told the BBC. They will also be used to break up large groups outside the site of the three-day festival, which [...]

AT LEAST four people have died after a stage collapsed in high winds at Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis. Gusts of up to 60mph are believed to have caused the accident, in which a further 40 people are thought to have been injured. The collapse happened at around 9pm local time as some of the 12,000 concertgoers were being evacuated [...]