John Drury is Reader in Social Psychology at the University of Sussex. He has been conducting research on crowd behaviour for 25 years, including such crowd events as the Hajj at Mecca, the Hillsborough disaster, the 2011 English riots, and the July 7 London bombings. He has provided consultancy and training to a number of event and crowd safety organisations, including the Event Safety Institute (Netherlands), the Roskilde Festival (Denmark) and the Crowd Safety Management degree course at Bucks New University. His research findings have informed guidance on disaster response for the Department of Health, the Cabinet Office, and the…
Author: Festival Insights
Andrew Harrison is Director of the Event Supplier and Services Association (ESSA), a trade body representing contractors and suppliers to the exhibition industry. ESSA is run by its members for the benefit of its members through an elected council of representatives, specialist working groups and a full time secretariat, which it shares with the Association of Event Organisers (AEO) and Association of Event Venues (AEV). ESSA co-ordinates joint working groups covering a range of issues into which all sides of the industry have an important input. There wasn’t a precise moment when the event industry realised it had an issue…
Iceland’s Secret Solstice hosted its fifth anniversary edition from June 21 – 24 during 96 hours of constant daylight. Featuring performances by Slayer, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, and Stormzy, the festival made a number of interesting additions to this year’s proceedings and maintained its staunch commitment to sustainability. Insights spoke with Secret Solstice’s Director, Fred Olafsson, about what makes the festival unique, its latest environmental measures and more. Festival Insights: What were the main areas of the festival that you focused on improving and expanding this year? Fred Olafsson: This year we introduced RFID wristbands, making us the first…
UK: Audio Farm Festival will return from August 30 – September 3, keeping to its nomadic ethos by moving to a new site at Shropshire’s Hopton Court. The not-for-profit festival will feature renowned DJs and artists across five stages, as well as drumming collectives, circus performers and fire dancers. All proceeds from the event will be donated to The Green Paw Project, a charity that saves the lives of helpless and vulnerable animals in third world countries. In addition to family camping, circus workshops, arts and crafts and music, the festival boasts a range of wellness activities – from yoga…
THE SEA: The Ark Festival Cruise is now granting prospective attendees the ability to secure tickets to its second edition by using Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum, in addition to all the expected conventional methods. This makes Ark the first cruise music festival to accept cryptocurrencies as a method of payment, a feat it has achieved by partnering with the Coinsbank payment gateway. The Ark has also become the first music festival on Earth to accept Ripple’s XRP coin (the third largest in terms of market cap) as a method of payment, as part of the Coinsbank system. Ripple has made…
UK: Arena Events Group has expanded its product portfolio in the UK with the acquisition of Events Solution. The company’s equipment range covers pedestrian, front of stage and Metropolitan Police barriers, gantries and fencing. This product offer closely complements Arena’s Mass Participation division and has synergies with its structures, seating and scaffolding capabilities. Arena UK & Europe CEO, Grahame Muir, said: “Our business strategy is to provide a comprehensive suite of services to event organisers. Events Solution is a very well run and invested business and one we believe has significant growth opportunities. Having a new northern base works strategically…
UK: The Ticket Factory has launched a new commercial team, tasked with creating more sales opportunities and driving profitability throughout the business. The news comes as Chris Pile, previously Consumer Sales and Marketing Director for the ticketing company, is appointed as Commercial Director. Pile will be joined by Nick Fenton in the new role of Commercial Manager, working to build their product base, securing new clients in and around the West Midlands (the home of TTF), and selling TTF’s trade and registration system ExpoWare. Another key focus will be on the preparation of key national and high profile ticketing client…
WORLDWIDE: Eventbrite and elrow have signed a multi-year ticketing partnership. The agreement will see Eventbrite handle the ticketing needs of the more than 100 shows and festivals under the elrow brand, which attract over 2.4 million attendees around the globe each year. Founded in 2010, elrow is an award-winning experiential event concept and party series that pairs elaborate production, interactive performers, zany characters and otherworldly visual displays with some of the world’s best electronic music. With residencies in Barcelona, Dubai, Madrid, New York, and Amnesia in Ibiza, elrow has recently debuted in Shanghai, added a festival-scale event at the Queen…
UK: Production Park, a unique cluster of live event based companies in Wakefield, has announced that it will fund university places at its industry leading training centre, Backstage Academy, making an initial pledge of £20,000 per academic year. The Backstage Academy Bursary Fund will provide a fully funded three-year place on one of the Academy’s BA courses to an outstanding candidate for whom university would not otherwise have been an option. Funds will also be available for part-funded places and support for accommodation costs. In addition, a percentage of the fund will be allocated to provide assisted places on Backstage…
Katie McPhee joined Eventbrite as the company’s first UK hire, helped open Eventbrite’s very first international office in London in 2011, and supported the growth of the UK and Ireland region into one of the company’s most important international markets. With over a decade of experience across music, technology, entertainment, media and events, and having held roles in various areas of marketing, Katie is a deeply experienced and multi-faceted leader of Eventbrite’s Marketing team in the UK and Ireland. It’s easier than ever for festivalgoers to discover new events with competitive ticket prices. So how do you create a pricing…