UK: The UK Festival Awards revealed its winners for 2019 on December 5, during the 16th annual ceremony at the Troxy in London. Hosted by rapper, comedian and actor, Doc Brown, the industry celebration presented accolades across 21 categories to various festivals, organisations and individuals in the UK’s live events sector. Those crowned include Download Festival (Best Major Festival), FOCUS Wales (Best Festival for Emerging Talent), Happy Maki (Concession of the Year), Green Gathering (The UK Greener Festival Award), and Parklife (Line-Up of the Year). The most prolific winner of the night was the inaugural Cleethorpes Festival of the Sky,…
Author: Festival Insights
UK: The UK Festival Awards has announced that it will present this year’s Outstanding Contribution to Festivals Award to Professor Fiona Measham. Throughout her 30-year academic career – beginning at King’s College, Cambridge and most recently as Chair in Criminology at the University of Liverpool – Fiona’s work has been shaped by her passion for music and dance culture. Never one to be trapped in the ivory towers of academia, her academic work has always been action-oriented, reflecting her lifelong commitment to equality and social justice causes. Amongst her achievements, she has served on the Government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of…
UK: Following its 10th anniversary edition, Manchester’s Parklife festival has revealed it generated an estimated £13 million pounds worth of economic benefit to Greater Manchester in 2019. A total of £2,727,286.12 was spent by the festival with companies, authorities, shops, freelancers and suppliers with a Manchester postcode. Their supply includes marketing, security, lighting, sound, Greater Manchester Police, stage managers, riggers, printers, DJ’s, live artists, staging, power, scaffolding, buses, cleansing, hardware, refrigeration, bar staff, stage crew, decor and set design. As well as the annual two-day festival, Parklife curated Noel Gallagher and The Courteeners concerts which also took place at the festival’s home of Heaton Park in June. These three events combined…
Taking place on the private Zaya Nurai island near Abu Dhabi from November 22 – 23, the inaugural Nurai Fest will host performances from Tiga, Audiofly, Serge Devant, and Steve Lawler. The festival hopes to develop and promote the region’s fledgling nightlife scene, and provide an affordable weekend getaway for its residents. Insights spoke with Nurai Fest co-founder, Ayan Alieva, about her history as a promoter, Abu Dhabi’s musical heritage, and Nurai Fest’s support of regional talent. Festival Insights: Tell us about how Nurai Fest came to be, and what people should expect from it. Ayan Alieva: The idea behind Nurai…
UK: AVA Festival has teamed up with former Amsterdam Dance Event director, Richard Zijlma, who will help shape the programme of its upcoming London conference in March 2020. Over the course of six years, AVA has become known for its willingness to push boundaries in electronic music, visual art, and technology. Key themes of the 2020 London conference are Industry Insight, AV, Sustainability, Production, and Streaming – featuring leading thinkers, innovators, and music brands. AVA hopes that Zijlma will bring valuable insight to the event, gleaned from a 23-year tenure with ADE that saw it grow into one of the…
Paul Campbell is the founder and director of the Purple Patch Group, a business that started life as an event agency in London over 10 years ago. If you’re operating as an event agency in London, then you’re likely no stranger to hiring event staff. When it comes to this aspect of event planning, there are many things that could go wrong. At Purple Patch Group, we’ve seen our fair share of hiring mishaps. That’s why we’re giving you the five things you need to know when hiring event staff. Know Your Needs One of the biggest mistakes you can…
UK: A new loudspeaker by Flare Audio aims to disrupt commercial and domestic audio markets by offering premium sound quality and clarity, while using enclosure materials that are 100% recyclable. Customisable across sixteen colours, Zero is the world’s first loudspeaker to use recycled paper in the fabrication of its exterior. This makes it an eco-friendly choice for those seeking to enhance their green credentials, whilst also impressing on both audio and design. Using its own patented Space technology, Flare clamps layers of 2mm thick recycled paper between solid, milled aluminium plates with such force the paper becomes rigid as concrete.…
UK: Festyvent, the live events-focused data analytics firm, has integrated several new and enhanced features into its app. The first of the bunch is called ‘SAFE@FESTIVAL’, allowing members of an audience to alert friends to their exact location if they fall ill or feel vulnerable. The friends contacted will be able to track the sender of the message live for 60 minutes on Google Maps using either GPS coordinates or the ///what3words identifier. David Jacobs, founder and CEO of parent company Clarifi Media, commented: “We have become increasingly concerned that festivalgoers can sometimes get into difficulties and need to alert and communicate…
UK: ID&C has seen a huge increase in demand for its eco-friendly products over the summer. It comes after the company launched a series of eco-wristbands in April, in response to expectations from customers and pressure from event organisers to lower their carbon footprint. The eco-friendly wristbands are made out of recycled plastic bottles, which offer a greener alternative to standard wristbands. This summer, ID&C included even more products to their range, with the introduction of eco lanyards, recyclable passes and mirror hooks. They are also set to launch a robust bamboo smartcard and key card this month as an alternative…
UK: Timber Festival has launched the first series of Wilderness Tracks, a brand new podcast recorded live in the National Forest at Timber 2018 and 2019 and hosted by BBC Radio 4’s Geoff Bird. In each episode, a writer, artist or musician shares six songs which soundtrack their relationship with nature and their memories of time spent in the great outdoors. Guests on the series are prolific comedian and Never Mind The Buzzcocks’ veteran Phill Jupitus, acclaimed nature writer Robert Macfarlane (Underland, The Lost Words), BBC Radio 3 presenter Elizabeth Alker, multi-instrumentalist Erland Cooper, and renowned music writer Laura Barton.…