UK: Boomtown has announced that it will be welcoming more visitors than ever for its eighth edition in just a few weeks’ time, after securing the licence for an increased capacity to 60,000. In tandem with the expansion, more than 80 street venues have been added to the line-up, including new additions The Sky Bar, Behind Bars and Patisserie Calorie, as well as mainstays the Job Centre, Postal Posse, The Bank, and the ASBO Disco!. In anticipation of more people on the ground, sustainability steps are being taken to minimise the festival’s impact on the surrounding environment. With audience travel…
Author: Festival Insights
UK: The 10th edition of Britain’s largest celebration of Japanese popular culture, Hyper Japan, comes to Olympia London from July 15 – 17. The festival will be offering the most vibrant and alternative aspects of J-culture – from music and food to anime, gaming, fashion and sake. Tens of thousands of J-culture enthusiasts are expected to convene at Olympia London from this Friday, to enjoy performances from Japanese electro / rap duo Charisma.com; Studio Ghibli singer, Azumi Inoue; British internet-sensation and Kawaii trend expert, Beckii; and indie pop-punk group Broken Doll to name a few. There will be plenty of…
UK: Bristol based design agency Fiasco Design has created a new visual identity for the ‘happiest, friendliest, quirkiest festival in the land,’ Larmer Tree Festival. Fiasco Design was brought on-board to spruce up the Larmer Tree Festival logo and typography, providing a full suite of hand drawn illustrations for the festival programme, its promotional print materials, merchandise and website. Ben Steers, co-founder and Creative Director at Fiasco Design, said: “When we went to visit the Larmer Tree Festival grounds we knew right away what they needed. This project has been a huge team effort and we’re proud we’ve brought the…
UK / South Korea: Sound City has announced that applications are now open for artists to apply to showcase at Zandari Festival and MU:CON, South Korea’s most important industry events. South Korea is a rapidly developing territory for music, with a thriving live music sector and a music subscription model which generates $139.6 million of revenue per year, accounting for 92.3% of all digital revenue and 53% of total trade revenue, according to the IFPI. This compares to $70 Million from both subscriptions and ad-supported streaming in the UK. Zandari and MU:CON take place every October and form the gateway…
UK: Colour Sound Experiment supplied lighting equipment to creative visual design specialist MIRRAD for three stages at the 2016 Barn on the Farm festival, staged in the pastoral site of Over Farm just outside Gloucester. In addition to being a unique boutique experience, Barn on The Farm is forging a serious reputation as a showcase for emerging talent after show-stopping performances by artists like Ed Sheeran, Ben Howard, Bastille, Hozier and others that headlined Barn on the Farm just ahead of major career leaps. MIRRAD became involved for the first time last year via Bryan Leitch, explained Jamie Thompson. MIRRAD…
UK: Serious Stages has been awarded a further three-year contract to supply staging and ancillary structures to Forest Live, building on its longstanding relationship with the summer concert programme. Established in 2001, Forest Live is an independent concert series, promoted by the Forestry Commission and hosted within seven nationwide forest locations, which include Westonbirt Arboretum, Thetford Forest, Dalby Forest and Mansfield Sherwood Pines Forest Park. This year’s line-up has seen performances from Rudimental, Kaiser Chiefs, James Bay and Guy Garvey. For the 2016 shows, Serious Stages supplied two 16m Supernova’s to accommodate simultaneous performances at different locations throughout the summer.…
NETHERLANDS: ADE Dance & Brands, the Amsterdam Dance Event’s sub-conference focused on commerce and creativity in the dance music industry, has revealed its first keynote speaker. Raphael Aflalo, CEO and co-founder of My Love Affair, an agency specialising in forging creative partnerships between brands and artists, will share his insights on October 20. During his appearance Aflalo will be presenting a series of case studies on how My Love Affair has worked with a wide range of dance artists, as well as offering his view of this growing market, followed by a Q&A session with the audience. “By the time…
UK: Attitude Is Everything – an organisation that strives to improve deaf and disabled people’s access to live music – has revealed that there has been a significant rise in the number of deaf and disabled fans attending live music events in the UK, highlighting the positive economic impact in ensuring accessibility at festivals. Compiling sales from festivals and venues on our Charter of Best Practice, AIE found that almost 144,000 disabled tickets were sold in 2015, compared to 114,000 in 2014 – an increase of 26%. The direct economic impact of these sales (including food and drink, and spend…
Todd Terrazas has been building bots since 1999 and is the Co-Founder & CEO of Brainitch, a conversational software company focusing exclusively on the live entertainment and sports industries. Todd and his team have developed the HANS bot framework to increase fan engagement and revenue for ticketed events. Most festivals invest heavily into their mobile and web properties to deliver content, sell tickets, and provide support. A Facebook page is free and serves as a valuable asset year-round to festivals. According to ComScore, messaging apps account for 91% of all time spent on mobiles and desktops by US users. The…
Proudly emblazoned on posters around the expansive Roskilde Festival site were the words ‘non-profit since 1972’. In my comprehensive conversation with the festival’s Head of Corporate Communications, Christina Bilde – in which we discussed Roskilde’s sustainability policies, health & safety philosophy, political activism and more – I asked whether 1972 was the inaugural year. “No,” she replied. “That was the year before. It’s an interesting story actually.” Inspired by the most iconic iterations of Woodstock and the Isle of Wight Festival in the immediate past, two Danish high school students decided to put on a festival in 1971. To do…