UK: The Mayor of London has welcomed the news that the first Lumiere light festival will take place from January 14 – 17 2016. Lumiere London will be a free-to-attend event, produced by Artichoke and supported by the Mayor of London and VisitLondon.com, with founding support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Heart of London Business Alliance and King’s Cross, and additional support from a raft partners and sponsors. Lumiere London will be the first major light festival in the city, an event to rival international festivals such as Vivid Sydney, Berlin’s Festival of Lights and Fête de Lumières in Lyon. It will…
Author: Festival Insights
WORLDWIDE: The previously ailing SFX Entertainment has announced that it has secured $60 million in new financing and refinanced its existing $30 million revolving credit facility, securing capital for new initiatives and operating and working capital needs. The $90 million comes from both new and existing investors, with $60 million in private placement financing and $30 million in a revolving credit facility. “This round of financing from these sophisticated investors reflects a level of confidence and provides growth capital to support many of the exciting new initiatives SFX is undertaking,” said Robert F.X. Sillerman, the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive…
CANADA: Detroit-based sound company Burst recently provided sound reinforcement for the main stage at the four-day music Pemberton Music Festival that took places near Mount Currie in British Columbia. The festival, which drew more than 115,000 attendees, features multiple stages of live entertainment including rock, indie rock, hip hop, electronic, heavy metal and comedy. Burst deployed a d&b audiotechnik PA for the main stage along with Avid D-Show consoles. The main stage was headlined by The Black Keys, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Tiesto, Hozier, Kid Cudi, and Missy Elliot. The system consisted of left-right line arrays – each made up…
NETHERLANDS: Following its sold-out sixth edition in January, the European Festival Awards – presented in association with Yourope and Eurosonic Noorderslag – will return on January 13 2016 to celebrate the successes of Europe’s music festival industry over the past year. The gala award show will once again open Eurosonic Noorderslag in style at De Oosterpoort in Groningen, The Netherlands. Entries for the Awards are now open and will run until October 11, during which time festivals can nominate themselves for consideration across a wide array of categories, which include Best Major Festival, Artists’ Favourite Festival, Headliner Of The Year,…
UK: The Isle of Wight Festival has announced that its Respect camping field will open for its fifth year in 2016, and is now taking bookings. Prospective attendees can sign up by agreeing to the site’s Terms and Conditions and the ‘Tent Commandments’, a code of conduct ensuring that the field remains in prime condition post-festival. Those wishing to camp in the Respect field must agree to take all of their belongings and tent(s) with them at the end of 2016’s Isle of Wight Festival. Space is very limited in Respect camping, so festivalgoers will also be asked to confirm…
UK: Sheffield Doc/Fest has announced the return of its Future Producer School, a six-month training initiative run in association with Bungalow Town Productions and Public Media Alliance. The project provides ambitious and dedicated documentary producers with mentoring and training from renowned industry professionals. Training will include a three-day residential workshop, bespoke mentoring and the opportunity to meet one-to-one with Decision Makers at the Sheffield Doc/Fest Marketplace in June 2016. Returning for its third year, the Future Producer school programme aims to: give producers the training they need to take their careers to the international documentary industry; prepare them to work…
UK: Fuelled by Green D+, Midas Productions powered the campsites, 21km of LED festoon lighting and a record-breaking disco ball at Bestival last weekend, generating more kVA but cutting costs and emissions in the process. Situated at the top of the route into the festival arena, and visible from all the main campsites, Midas inflated Newsubstance’s mirror tile-covered PVC bladder to 10.33m, 35cm bigger than the previous disco ball record holder, and kept it at size via a bespoke pressure management system. Andy Dann, Operations Director at Midas, said: “The Guinness World Record was a fantastic achievement for Bestival and…
UK: Creamfields has released details of next year’s hospitality packages. New for 2016, the two-tiered system will offer the more discerning festivalgoer the opportunity to enjoy extras such as luxury camping, ‘proper’ toilets, hot showers, a pamper parlour, and access to a luxury car park. A Creamfields Silver ticket will allow attendees to experience all of the above, plus fast track entry into the festival gates and into the event arena. The Creamfields Gold package includes all of the advantages of Creamfields Silver, plus access to the exclusive Hospitality Arena onsite which will serve a complimentary hot meal each day;…
UK: The ‘best ever’ Bestival ensured that another busy summer programme of festivals ended on a high note for Showsec as they played their part in the success of the Summer of Love. Organisers were quick to claim that Bestival scaled new heights this year, following an event that once again featured a successful bid to break a world record. The crowd management and event security specialists helped to enhance the reputation of what has now become the traditional grand finale to the festival season on the Isle of Wight, as the impact of their crime reduction measures contributed to…
Richard Fletcher is a Research Assistant at De Montfort University, Leicester working on a public engagement and peer education project: ‘Face Your Elephant’ (FYE). He is also a part time lecturer in Arts and Festivals Management and has contributed to numerous research studies around events and festivals. Face Your Elephant acknowledges support from the Royal Academy of Engineering and its partners: Centre for Alternative Technology and Woodcraft Folk. Festivals are an interesting learning environment, whether you have a specific issue to address or if you are just trying to fulfil the curiosity of your audience. My experience of this has…