NETHERLANDS: The first winners of the Greener Festival Award 2016 have been announced at ADE Green, part of the massive Amsterdam Dance Event. Welcome to the Future, DGTL, Liberation Festival and Extrema Outdoor were all winning Dutch events who participated in the Award scheme in 2016, and picked up their awards at the awards ceremony was organised with Green Events Nederland. To enter the award scheme, led by A Greener Festival, events submit a self assessment which is followed by an onsite independent inspection, post event data gathering and a detailed report by the environmental assessor. The assessment forms the…
Author: Festival Insights
CANADA: Festival management software outfit Marcato has dropped a new comprehensive update to its platform, called Marcato Live. The Canadian based company has been aggressively expanding its services into the live event management sector since 2009. It now accommodates over 250 festivals and live event organisations worldwide, with hundreds of individual implementations every year. Notable clients include Coachella, X Games, Bonnaroo, MAMA & Co., CMA Country Music Festival & Awards, New Orleans Jazz Festival, Madison House Productions, and many more. Up until now Marcato has been primarily serving music festivals. However, leading up to the launch of Marcato Live, the…
BRAZIL: Representing the jewel in the crown of the entire Ultra tour, this month saw the highly anticipated first edition of Ultra Brasil in Rio de Janeiro from October 14 – 15. The completely sold out, two-day festival took over the imposing and iconic Sambódromo (most famously known as the home of Rio’s annual carnival), attracting over 60,000 fans to the north of the city for what turned out to be one of the undisputed highlights of Ultra’s 2016 calendar. Set against a backdrop of the Corcovado and Cristo Redentor, the enormous Ultra Main Stage – which was graced by…
FRANCE: Snow & music festival Rise has confirmed a myriad of talent and partners for 2016 including Kano, Seth Troxler, Metrik and Bondax along with Rinse FM, Ibiza Rocks, Hospitality and more. Taking over the award-winning Les Deux Alps in France from December 10 – 17, Rise Festival brings together electronic music, an award-winning snow setting and various experiences at 3000 metres above sea level. This winter Rise Festival will bring the best of house, drum & bass, garage and more to the French mountains, featuring the Mercury-nominated grime king-pin Kano, house heavyweight Seth Troxler, Hospital Records drum & bass…
UK: The UK Festival Awards – whose 13th edition takes place on November 28 at The Roundhouse in London – has announced that the recipient of this year’s Outstanding Contribution to Festivals Award will be Enteetainment MD, Dick Tee. Over the course of the last 35 years, Tee and his company Enteetainment have provided site coordination, event management and production services to many of the UK’s most iconic festivals and concerts, most notably Glastonbury and Reading Festival. Anyone who has worked with Tee will recognise he has never been one to rest on his laurels, always striving for new and…
The London based techno festival Junction 2 made its debut in June of this year, the brainchild of one the capital’s most esteemed electronic music promoters, London Warehouse Events. The event’s auspicious combination of a unique location, revered creative partners, high-end production, and relatively non-commercial ethos led to overwhelmingly positive feedback from attendees. Insights spoke with LWE’s Operations Manager, Alice Favre, about the lessons they learned from the first edition and their plans moving forward. Festival Insights: You’ve recently announced the return of Junction 2 for 2017. First off: how did the inaugural festival go? Alice Favre: Really well. The…
UK: Symphotech drew upon its wealth of expertise and experience to manage health & safety for the inaugural Lockdown Festival as it headed to Powderham Castle from September 9 – 11. Lockdown Festival welcomed a sell out crowd of 7,000 dance music lovers to see performances from the likes of Tinie Tempah, Katy B and Stormzy. Organisers UK Live called upon Symphotech, with relatively short notice, to help them deal with specific challenges before and during the event, including the 16+ age restriction and concerns from the police and licensing authorities around the drug culture ostensibly associated with the genre…
Gordon Thomson is a partner at Woodburns Street Food, a family-run purveyor of nutritious and affordable food & drink for festivalgoers. Founded in 1996, the business has operated at UK events for a number of years and in this article Thomson argues for increased transparency and shared risk between caterers and festivals. 2012 was a low point in the world of festival catering. It was our third year in this business and we decided to go for it. We had always done well with our handmade pizza at T in the Park, so we thought why not expand and do…
USA: Thunder Audio recently deployed a large-scale JBL VTX Series system at Lollapalooza 2016 to power a diverse line-up of high profile artists at the festival’s Bud Light stage, including Ellie Goulding, Major Lazer, Lana Del Ray, The 1975, Future, Disclosure, HAIM and many more. Thunder Audio used the JBL VTX system at Lollapalooza 2015, and selected the system once again for its smooth frequency response, powerful output and ease of deployment. The VTX system’s clear and transparent sound quality was especially important, and enabled Thunder Audio to accommodate a wide range of sonic requirements. “We always set up the…
UK: This year’s edition of Hampshire’s largest festival, BoomTown Fair, raised £98,654, along with vital aid and awareness for numerous charities across the globe and closer to home. The 60,000 capacity theatrical and immersive festival also donated money to local communities, supported many local businesses and provided tickets for local residents. Charity, education, and awareness, along with local engagement, are a large part of the ethos of BoomTown and the festival has many ways to raise money and aid including: £2 ticket donations, guest list donations, stewarding partnerships, onsite installations such as a hidden photo booth in the intricate set…