Janneke van Egmond is an editor and marketer at Eventbrite Benelux. With years of experience as an account manager in the event industry she knows what makes organisers tick (and what keeps them awake at night). Running a venue or music festival can feel like riding a roller coaster, blindfolded. You may get a rush of pure joy at the end, but the unpredictable turns and drops can rattle even the most experienced live music producer. But what if the future of your business weren’t so mysterious? What if you could get a real sense of your show or festival’s…
Author: Festival Insights
UK: Sound City has appointed Rebecca Ayres as the new MD of its eponymous city based festival and all of its associated projects around the world. The news follows on from the festival and conference’s sold-out 10th anniversary celebrations back in May, which took place across Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle and British Music Experience, with 7,000 music fans and 2,000 delegates attending respectively. After a decade at the helm of the festival since its inception back in 2008, Dave Pichilingi is now focusing his energies fully with Modern Sky – with many entertainment, recording and publishing projects in development with the…
Georgia Black is the owner of Littlegig, a boutique festival just outside Cape Town, South Africa. Here she examines the trend of festivals increasingly trying to appeal to the well-heeled, top end of the market. Many are throwing around the ‘L’ word, but is a luxury festival experience a contradiction in terms? The original music festivals that imbued the word with such romance were hedonistic, idealistic and unregulated spaces occupied by outliers. Sixty years ago, fretting about where to sleep (let alone what to eat), ran deeply counter to the spirit of the gatherings. Luxury was bourgeois, repressive, conservative and…
DENMARK: Roskilde Festival 2018 marked the first year of a multi-faceted partnership with Meyer Sound, attempting to create a new paradigm in large scale festival sound as well as launching pillar programs in education and training, scientific research and development – all with the goal of elevating the festival experience for the audience, technicians and artists alike. Wrapping up in early July, the 2018 edition of Denmark’s long-running Roskilde Festival attracted a total audience of more than 130,000 for eight days of musical performances from 184 artists including Orange and Arena stage headliners Bruno Mars, Eminem, Gorillaz, Nick Cave and…
UK: On July 28 MADE Festival will introduce Multi Agency Safety Testing (MAST) as part of its new harm reduction strategy, allowing festival-goers to test their drugs and make more informed choices. This is the first time such safety testing has been used in the West Midlands. The decision to use MAST is the result of a new partnership with The Loop, West Midlands Police, the Police and Crime Commissioner, and Birmingham City Council. Pete Jordan, MADE Festival’s Festival Director, said: “As Birmingham’s leading music festival, the safety of our customers is our top priority. We are pleased to be…
UK: Julie’s Bicycle has announced the winners of the second Creative Green Awards, celebrating the many organisations taking a robust stance on climate change and the environment. With over 300 Creative Green certificates awarded, the awards are a moment for the sector to showcase its leadership in climate action. The awards are supported with sponsorship from First Mile, Seacourt Printing and Pilio, with Good Energy also sponsoring the award for Highest Achievement for Improvement. The Awards were hosted at the Roundhouse on July 9, with contributions from Baroness Lola Young, artist Michael Pinsky and Matthew Bourne of New Adventures. The…
UK: Star Events redesigned BST Hyde Park’s entire Great Oak Stage to accommodate Roger Waters’ Us + Them show on July 6. With gags including smoking Battersea Power Station chimneys rising above the stage, graffiti strewn flying pigs and the surround sound effects synonymous with Roger Waters, Us + Them managed to set a new precedent, even for a Hyde Park performance. The Pink Floyd-heavy two and a half hour show contemporized the politics from the band’s mid-70s / early-80s canon through a series of stunning visual sequences fitted to the songs. The back of the traditional performance box was…
UK: Festicket, the world’s largest website community for music festivals, has teamed up with the Good Night Out Campaign in a bid to help reduce harassment at festivals. The collaboration will see Festicket using its platform within the festival community to raise awareness of the importance of safety at festivals, as well as putting together some safety tips and guidelines on staying safe ahead of and during live events. Bryony Beynon, co-founder and co-director of Good Night Out, said: “A recent poll showed*, one in five (22%) festival-goers, rising to 30% of women, have experienced some form of unwanted sexual…
UK: New research reveals that millennials are reluctant to ‘slum it’ at festivals and are being put off by a lack of everyday essentials such as warm showers, clean toilets and a comfortable bed. A poll of festival-goers aged 18 to 35 by ibis hotels found that over a third (38%) of Generation Y have avoided going to a festival because they’d miss their home comforts. More than half (59%) admitted to being less tolerant of festival conditions as they get older. Overall, a third (38%) said they found the state of the portable toilets off-putting (the biggest turn off),…
UK: This summer will see marketing agency BrandKiss partner Visit St.Pete / Clearwater with the long-standing, popular surf and music festival Boardmasters. St.Pete / Clearwater boasts 35 miles of award winning white-sand beaches, showcasing an abundance of arts and cultural attractions. For obvious reasons, BrandKiss felt that this made them a natural fit for Boardmasters. With more than 150,000 people attending Boardmasters over its five-day proceedings, Visit St.Pete / Clearwater has designed a unique two-story activation to support its 2018 tourism campaign. The tourist board will be giving away Visit St.Pete / Clearwater goodies there whilst inviting festivalgoers to visualise…