UK: BBC’s Biggest Weekend took place over the second May bank holiday in a number of different locations across the UK. Commercial drone provider, COPTRZ, supplied a number of drone detection units to various agencies involved with the events’ security. Drones are a major threat to festivals of this size, and festivals generally apply a no-fly-zone to try and prevent drones from entering the area. It doesn’t necessarily stop drones from entering the ‘cordoned off’ zone, however, so drone detection systems are becoming an increasingly popular tool to ensure that these policies are adhered to. DJI’s Aeroscope is a purpose…
Author: Festival Insights
UK: Boomtown has been granted permission to open its doors a day earlier for a limited number of attendees. The South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) has given the festival the go ahead on its plans to help reduce the volume of traffic arriving to the event on the Thursday, by allowing certain ticketholders access to the festival site a day earlier. Taking place between August 8 – 12 2018 at the Matterley Estate in Hampshire, the festival is offering the limited Wednesday access to those who are choosing to arrive to the festival via sustainable transport methods – such…
UK: Star Events’ X Stage highlighted the creativity at AEG Presents’ first All Points East festival in Victoria Park from May 25 – 27, where sets from LCD Soundsystem, The XX and Bjork drew huge audiences. Working with Loudsound and LarMac Live, Star Events supplied the festival’s four principal platforms, including the main East Stage, a 20m VerTech; the North Stage, with its concentric arches; the West Arena; and all the requisite support structures. Complete with a hovering DJ platform, the X Stage puts artists into the heart of the audience. Star Events’ design team joined two 5m wide /…
Rob Tominey is CEO of Mainstage Festivals, a pioneering festival and travel company. Mainstage started with Snowboxx – now the fastest growing winter festival in Europe – and has since set up Kala Festival on the Albanian Riviera. Achievements within Mainstage include taking the company to Dragons’ Den and receiving the third largest investment on the show to date. The company has since taken on further investment to build its global festival portfolio from the ground up. If you don’t win over the stakeholders for your festival, you will fail. Don’t expect a license in time if you haven’t won…
Steve Jenner leads business development in the UK and Ireland for PlayPass, one of the world’s top providers of RFID solutions for cashless payments, crew accreditation & management and access control at live events. This summer sees more UK events than ever before adopting PlayPass’ technology, including We Are FSTVL, British Summer Time, Standon Calling, 2000Trees, Neverworld, Southbeats and over 200 events worldwide. May 25 2018 is the day that the most significant legislation of the digital age takes effect, giving individuals enforceable rights over the collection, processing and distribution of their personal data. Data is the lifeblood of the…
UK: The Entertainment Agents’ Association has issued a checklist for concert promoters to help ensure that they are dealing with the genuine agent of an artist when booking a show. The checklist is issued following recent scams that have seen fraudsters claim to represent artists including Adele, Justin Timberlake, Dire Straits, Beyoncé, System Of A Down and Eminem. “We’re seeing a worrying increase in this style of email scam,” said Association president Neil Tomlinson. “Before agreeing any show and sending deposits, promoters must be 100% sure that they are dealing with the real booking agent for that artist.” Unless a…
UK: The festival food waste scheme, Eighth Plate, returned after a two-year hiatus on the first May bank holiday weekend at the Arcadia London Spectacular. From May 4 – 6, staff from the Nationwide Caterers Association (NCASS) visited the food traders onsite at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to discuss surplus food at the end of the festival and how it could be safely redirected. Owing to the work of the traders onsite and the organisers of Arcadia London, the process was managed and completed successfully. Eighth Plate’s relaunch at Arcadia London will be used to develop a case study to…
WORLDWIDE: Eventbrite users can now add a ‘Get Tickets’ button to the profile page of their Instagram business account, making it easier for potential buyers to not only learn more about the shows and events they’re offering, but to act on their interest by buying tickets via a simplified checkout process. Eventbrite is Instagram’s first live events ticketing partner, and the ability to add a ‘Get Tickets’ button is now available to the 25 million entrepreneurs and brands that have Instagram business profiles globally. Eighty percent of Instagram business profiles exist outside of the US, and as such this tool…
GERMANY: Ticketrunner, the Cologne based creator of brand ambassador software for event owners, has announced its integration with key ticketing companies such as Eventbrite, Paylogic, Universe, Ticket.io, Eventix and Reservix. Major festivals throughout Europe, such as Amsterdam Music Festival and Sea You Festival, will also utilise the platform this year to push peer-to-peer sales. Ticketrunner helps event organisers to increase their ticket sales and extend the reach of their brand. To stimulate growth, Ticketrunner enables organisers to let their ambassadors earn points for every social action they perform. Creating, sharing and engaging with content on social media and, of course,…
UK: Organisers of the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) have announced the second edition of the Event Safety & Security Summit (E3S), a one-day meeting that brings together leading international venue, festival, touring, sport and security professionals. Following last year’s sold out first edition, the October 30 event will take place at a new venue this year – Congress Centre in central London – with an increased capacity for 400 delegates. “Last year’s E3S was just intended as a one-off, but after extremely positive feedback from attendees, we’re going to run a second meeting with space to accommodate extra demand,”…