UK: WOMAD welcomed back the d&b Soundscape stage to this year’s edition, providing a platform to artists like Saving Grace, LTJ Bukem, Muthoni Drummer Queen, Jungle by Night, and Roosevelt Collier. Prominently positioned within the main arena site in Charlton Park, Wiltshire, the Soundscape stage held capacity audiences of over 4,000 people. Gabriel founded WOMAD in 1980 to celebrate global music, arts and dance. He wanted the festival to be ‘embracing but non-definitive, inspiring and outward looking, and enthusiastic about a world that has no boundaries in its ability to communicate through music and movement’. The stage is the result…
Author: Festival Insights
UK / USA: The London based ticketing start-up, Eventcube, is heading to the US and bringing with it a subscription-fee based model, touted as a way to ‘democratise ticketing’. Having already entrenched itself within the European and Asian markets, Eventcube has sold $38m in tickets so far. From London Parks to AEG Presents to ABS CBN, the system has been utilised by both big brands and independent promoters in the UK, Asia, Europe and Australia. Now Eventcube is bringing its technology to the US and with it, will be launching a new ‘Unlimited Ticketing’ pricing and service model. Currently many providers charge a…
UK: Creamfields returned to Daresbury on the British August Bank Holiday weekend with bigger production values, and more flown subs, than ever before. Led by Crew Chief Alex Hore and with system designs from Josh Lloyd, Britannia Row provided sound solutions to the Arc Stage, Horizon Stage and Stage 4 (also known as the Steel Yard). Hore, who was Britannia Row’s Crew Chief, oversaw a 16-stong crew across three stages and worked closely with off-site noise management consultants, Vanguardia. He said: “The design of the systems and the ethos behind them is to provide the best sounding and largest-area-covering audio we can,…
UK: Powerful Thinking has confirmed the programme for its Festival Vision:2025 conference at The Showman’s Show on October 16. Now in its third edition, the conference focuses on developments in sustainable initiatives – with talks, panels and presentations on key topics, while framing Festival Vision:2025 in the context of global and national climate movements and policy. This year, for the first time, the conference is open to all visitors to The Showman’s Show as well as event organisers who have taken the Festival Vision:2025 pledge. Read the full programme and book a free delegate place here. Highlights of the programme include…
UK: The Association of Event Venues has appointed Emily Deimbacher to the post of marketing and sales executive, who started in her new role on September 16 at AEV’s Berkhamsted HQ. Deimbacher, a recent graduate in Digital Media and Communications from the University of Westminster, joins the AEV secretariat in a dual role, focusing on the development of the marketing and social media campaigns and driving new business leads to the sales team. Deimbacher will also be responsible for the AEV and AEV Conference websites, and will be developing content for member communications. Rachel Parker welcomed Deimbacher to the association,…
UK: Festicket has launched a new feature that allows fans to pay for festival tickets as a group. By using Pay with Friends, the lead booker can reserve tickets for their whole group while only having to pay for part of the payment up-front. The other members of the group then have 48 hours to pay their share. Pay with Friends was developed in response to the huge popularity of group bookings on the Festicket platform. Around 60% of festival-goers go in groups of more than three; 20% of that are for more than six (source: Festicket consumer survey 2019). Festivals have…
Tom Critchley is the Managing Director of Caboose & Co, a provider of luxury sleeping accommodation and glamping pods to the event and accommodation industries. Staff welfare in the events industry needs some attention. A career as an event co-ordinator was cited as the fifth most stressful role of 2016, so why is it that event professionals continue to work ever-increasing hours? I am sure you will agree that the live events sector heavily relies on the strength of relationships within teams to deliver success. The combination of long hours on the road, being in each other’s pockets for the…
Jamie Williams is a director at Dixie Fields festival and partner at creative agency isobel. My first job was at a very trendy music film production company in New York, back in 2002. There was always music playing, mainly hip-hop. And before meetings when important clients came in, the boss would always ask “what music would you like? We have everything other than country”. Back then country was unbelievably uncool. It always had its following in Nashville and the South, but on this side of the Atlantic, country music appreciators used to have to keep their secret to themselves. When…
Will Evans is a Director of Performance Networks, a UK based specialist WiFi and communications provider for businesses. He has more than 20 years’ experience in communications and has worked at Performance Networks for seven years. Festivals are becoming more and more about the experience than the big names associated with them. Influencer marketing is similar to this. It’s no longer about the ‘who’ and the ‘what’ – it’s the why. People want to see how the product that an influencer is promoting will give them a good experience, and that’s where festivals and influencers come hand in hand. As we…
John Shubin is a Director of Business Development at ADRF, in charge of driving sales revenue from carriers, enterprises, and third-party operator customers in the west region of the United States. He has nearly 20 years of experience on the front lines of the wireless industry and expert knowledge on both commercial and public safety in-building wireless systems. Since 1999, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has called the 330-acre Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA its home. Grossing $114.6 million in 2017, The event attracts millions of concertgoers and brands from all over the world, and has…