UK: Tramlines – the UK’s largest metropolitan festival – has announced an additional 60 artists for its 2016 event, which will take place across Sheffield from July 22 – 24. The latest genre-spanning additions range from The Dandy Warhols and Public Service Broadcasting to Kate Jackson to Big Narstie, with a bonus DJ set from snooker legend Steve Davis. Over four outdoor stages and 17 venues, Tramlines festivalgoers will discover internationally-acclaimed artists alongside up-and-coming talent and – with weekend passes from just £42 plus booking fee – it’s one of the most affordable festivals around. 2016 marks the eighth edition…
Author: Festival Insights
USA: eBay has announced an agreement to acquire Ticketbis, an international ticket marketplace with a presence in 47 countries. Ticketbis will become part of eBay’s StubHub business, the largest ticket marketplace in the US. With this acquisition, StubHub will grow its presence across Latin America and Europe and expand into Asia Pacific, hoping to become the global ticket marketplace leader as measured by volume of transactions and international reach. “In a world where the richest moments in life are becoming less about the things people have and more about the experiences they have to share, the acquisition of Ticketbis will…
UK: Award-winning technology start-up Crowd Connected has further expanded the capabilities of colocator, its location insight platform, with the introduction of a new staff-tracking module. In a world first, colocator’s new software-as-a-service solution enables named individuals to be located in real-time to remarkable accuracy, without requiring installation of beacons or other expensive site-wide hardware. Crucially, it works both indoors and outdoors. By issuing members of staff with Crowd Connected’s low-cost, reusable lanyard-style tags containing an embedded Bluetooth transmitter, operators of stadia, arenas, festivals and city-centres are now able to pinpoint the location of any individuals wearing the lanyards. The solution…
UK: Acoustic and audio specialist Event Acoustics has appointed leading independent audio engineering and design consultancy Vanguardia as its UK distributor for MeTrao, the company’s unique intelligent network audio measurement system. Event Acoustics has also assigned Istanbul-based ELIT the sole rights for Turkey, whilst audio visual design and distribution specialist ZAP S.A will cover Switzerland, with a headquarters in Geneva and branches in Lausanne and Winterthur. To further boost the UK venture, Vanguardia has recruited well-respected sound engineer Roly Oliver as head of live business, with a focus on the distribution of MeTrao to rental companies, consultants and temporary and…
UK: Utopium has invested in new lighting and rigging equipment to expand its creative possibilities and offer improved energy efficiency and the highest quality performance. The investment has bolstered Utopium’s already extensive inventory, increasing its choice of modern LED lighting and the latest rigging equipment available to production companies, lighting designers, venue managers and event organisers. Utopium’s range of new products includes SGM P-2 LED RGBW Floods, Martin MAC Quantum Profile LED Moving Lights, CHAUVET Rogue R1 LED Moving Wash Lights, Robert Juliat Roxie LED Followspots, SGM G-Spots LED IP65 Moving Profile, SGM Q-7s LED IP65 Strobe / flood /…
UK: The independent family festival Elderflower Fields has been named as the recipient of this year’s ID&C £2500 Grass Roots Bursary. The bursary, now in its sixth year, offers small to medium-sized UK festivals the chance to receive £2500 towards their security wristband and accreditation requirements, courtesy of wristband suppliers ID&C. Since their first event in 2012, Elderflower Fields organisers Stuart, Nigel, Maria and Dax have worked around their day jobs to create a genuinely family-focused festival that is about much more than watching headline bands. Organiser, Stuart Balkham said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for us, not only does…
This article was first published in the spring issue of Protocol Magazine, and was written by the Event Safety Alliance’s Director of Operations, Jacob Worek. ‘The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the greater Oklahoma City area…’ These were the words that greeted attendees as they converged on Oklahoma to take part in the Event Safety Alliance’s second-annual Severe Weather Summit. Such forecasts aren’t particularly unusual for this region – after all, the chorus of the official state song mentions two separate weather phenomena in as many lines (Rodgers & Hammerstein’s ‘Oklahoma’ for the theatrically-impaired). While…
UK: Bestival has collaborated with Cardiff-based Something Creatives to make what they claim to be the world’s biggest bouncy castle. Aiming to add to its accolades for the world’s largest fancy dress party, the biggest busk ever and its colossal disco ball, the giant inflatable castle will debut at Common People in Southampton this coming bank holiday weekend. Bestival and Common People founder Rob da Bank said: “We do love breaking a record and this is one of our funnest builds so far. Me and my mate Matt from the infamous Inflatable Church had a pipe dream about five years…
UK: The endemic issue of UK festivalgoers leaving tents at events is being tackled by a new campaign called ‘Tent-cil, a collaboration between Shambala, Boomtown and the Love Your Tent initiative, based on their concept of adding value to tents. Participating festivals will offer their spray painted logo for tents (with owners’ permission), adding sentimental value and encouraging festivalgoers to collect Tent-cil logos from the festival season. Two thirds of UK festivals have reported having a problem with tents left behind. Tent-ciling is a coherent message from across festivals which is focused on tents being taken home and reused. As…
Robert Dudley is an event safety officer at The Fair, a large-scale event delivery specialist that focuses on three things: safety, quality and budget. Some of the agency’s regional projects include Mostly Jazz, Moseley Folk Festival and Lunar Festival. As safety professionals within the events and entertainment industry, we obviously welcome any steps to improve upon existing safety standards. We were a little concerned when the proposals for CDM Regulations were first shared as it seemed as though a product or system designed for one industry was being shoehorned into ours. The general response in the industry was mixed; some…