SWITZERLAND: Montreux Jazz Festival has announced the exclusive digital release of more than 50 concerts from its 54-year history. Thirty-five performances are now available to stream in full free of charge here. Fans will have the chance to experience iconic performances by some of their favourite artists from their homes, including rare concerts from ‘The Godfather of Soul’ James Brown, who played Montreux Jazz Festival in 1981, and Nina Simone in 1976. The concerts encompass some of the highlights from the long-running European festival, with other artists available to stream including Marvin Gaye, Carlos Santana, Alanis Morissette, Simply Red, Phil Collins, Wu-Tang Clan, Korn, The Raconteurs and more. Montreux Jazz Festival
Author: Festival Insights
WORLDWIDE: With festival postponements and cancellations being announced across the world, Slovenia-based music data company Viberate has collated a comprehensive list of Sick Festivals that they are updating daily. The service monitors around 5,000 festivals worldwide and lets festivalgoers know which ones are cancelled or postponed so that they can plan accordingly. The data is sourced from Viberate’s global database of artists, venues, events, and festivals. Currently, they’ve identified 236 canceled and 250 postponed festivals. “The damage will go into billions,” said Viberate’s founder and CEO Matej Gregorcic. “The production costs of a mega festival often exceed $100M. Our service monitors around 5,000 festivals and more…
UK: Bournemouth’s annual arts and culture festival, Arts by the Sea, has launched a colouring competition to help keep kids entertained at home during school closures across the UK. Aspiring young artists can download a selection of colouring sheets based on the festival’s 2020 artwork, to print and colour at home, or upload and colour using a tablet. Once complete, the creative designs can be shared online using the hashtag, #ABTSatHome, and on April 23, Arts by the Sea will showcase the creative work of everyone who got involved in a dedicated gallery on its official website. ‘Arts by the Sea At Home’ has launched to…
UK: #VirtualPint — a new fundraising initiative helping fans to support vulnerable UK music venues, theatres and pubs — has launched in response to the unprecedented challenge faced by venues during the COVID-19 pandemic. The fundraiser, which lets fans buy virtual drinks in exchange for entry into a prize draw, is already being celebrated by artists, festivals and the wider industry. Punters can buy a virtual pint for £3.50, a virtual cocktail for £5, or a virtual round for £20, with the extensive menu also extending to non-alcoholic beverages. Supporters will be entered into a prize draw that includes tickets…
PORTUGAL: Event Horizon, the promoter behind Rolling Loud Portugal and Afro Nation, has made a contribution to help fund new ventilation machines and self-protection materials for medical staff which will be used in hospitals across the Algarve, helping the local population combat the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Both festivals are still expecting to take place in July in Portimão, in the Algarve region of Southern Portugal. The contribution of these funds is to be managed by the Algarve Biomedical Center (ABC), a consortium between the University of Algarve and the local public hospitals aiming to improve health and safety throughout the…
UK: The Night Time Industries Association has released an open letter calling for the UK government to ‘freeze’ the economy, and provide more clarity on compensatory provisions available to the sector during the COVID-19 outbreak. “The events industry has been subject to a period of prolonged frustration, as we have been drip fed the government’s economic provisions for rescuing businesses within the Night Time & Events Sector, leaving millions in a state of confusion and many extremely concerned about extended indebtedness and ruin,” reads the statement. “It is clear from many of the provisions which have been assessed, that the headlines…
Luis Sousa is the Marketing Director at Festicket, the world’s largest platform for music festival experiences. As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to gather pace, each day represents a step further into the unknown for the global population. Stock markets, industries and nations have been rocked by the all too necessary measures taken to contain, delay and ultimately eliminate the outbreak. The events industry has been particularly hard hit, with globally famous festivals such as Glastonbury and Coachella proving they are not immune to postponement or cancellation. Each new revelation that forces promoters to change their plans understandably deals a blow…
POLAND: To offer assistance to some of Poland’s most vulnerable citizens during the COVID-19 outbreak, the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Foundation — organisers of Pol’and’Rock Festival — have launched an online platform that will connect people seeking support with volunteers and activists. The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Foundation relies on the work and commitment of hundreds of thousands volunteers and activists, who are eager to offer their support to those most vulnerable to the coronavirus. The errands the volunteers are prepared to take up include shopping, dog walking, and other essential chores, which would require breaking self-isolation. Volunteers can…
UK: The Music Venue Trust has penned an open letter to Boris Johnson and launched a petition that both demand the temporary closure of grassroots music venues. The organisation claims that failing to do so will result in the ‘permanent closure and loss of hundreds’ of venues throughout the UK. The letter asserts that Johnson has ‘created the conditions where these venues are forced to remain open while simultaneously requesting that the public do not go to them’, and goes on to state that: ‘This is not a policy at all. If Public Health demands that these venues should not…
UK: The organisers of Glastonbury Festival have announced the cancellation of its forthcoming edition — which was set to take place from July 24 – 28 — due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are so sorry to announce this, but Glastonbury 2020 will have to be cancelled, and this will be an enforced fallow year for the festival,” read the festival’s official statement. “Clearly this was not a course of action we hoped to take for our 50th anniversary event, but following the new government measures announced this week – and in times of such unprecedented uncertainty – this is…