Jona Koekelcoren is Community & Customer Success Manager at BeatSwitch. Aside from this role he also dedicates his time to coaching artists, co-organising festivals and club shows, and was also assistant label manager at Waste My Records during past years. His passion lies where music, marketing, technology and project management intersect. VR got us thinking. What are the major festivals working on? How can it work for the whole industry? Let’s look at the opportunities for virtual reality and festivals, and how the issue relates to the live streaming evolution. VR vs. Live Streaming Back in 2007, live streaming was…
Author: Festival Insights
UK: Soundon Festival has announced that it is moving from April 30 – May 1 to August 13 – 14. The two-day music festival, celebrating 30 years of dance music culture, will remain at Essex Sports Village, a 48-acre greenfield site in Purfleet. All current ticket holders will be refunded in full, before being issued with a free weekend ticket for the new dates. Festival Director Danny Swallow commented: “Unfortunately, we realised that there was still work to be done to make the site 100% festival ready, so made the decision to move Soundon Festival. This wasn’t an easy decision,…
UK: Ian Mackaye of the legendary post-hardcore band Fugazi has been confirmed for an exclusive Q&A following a screening of Jem Cohen’s 1999 film Instrument at this year’s inaugural Restless Natives Festival in Glasgow. Instrument was a collaboration between Jem Cohen and Fugazi, with the title of the film taken from a track from the latter’s 1993 album In On The Killtaker. Following the screening, Ian Mackaye will answer fans’ questions live via Skype from a radio station in Washington. The screening at Restless Natives is scheduled for 7.30pm on May 12 at the African and Caribbean Centre. Restless Natives’…
GERMANY: Mojo Barriers has completed an extensive sale of new equipment, supplying over 600 meters of the latest Mojo systems to V.I.P.’s Security & More. V.I.P.’s Security, a German-based event supply company, which has recently acquired Bümo Event Logistik, has purchased over 600 pieces of new Mojo Barriers equipment. This includes 100m of bar barrier, 400m of straight aluminium crowd barrier, along with specialist flex corners, line-up gates and mega exits, making this one of Mojo’s largest ever sale of new equipment. The range gives V.I.P.’s Security the ability to provide a full service to huge concerts and festivals. Key…
UK: Nozstock has announced the second wave of acts for its 18th edition, set on a picturesque working farm in Herefordshire. With its first round of artists already released, including Jurassic 5, Gentleman’s Dub Club and Foreign Beggars, the festival has now introduced more acts taking over Bromyard in July. The new acts announced include: Imelda May, The Skints, Jaguar Skills, Goldie, My Nu Leng, Buster Shuffle, The Lounge Kittens, King Kong Company, Benjamin Yellowitz, Subculture Sage, Uncle Dugs, Idles, Anchorsong, Funke and The Two Tone Baby, J-Man, Seas of Mirth, Foreign Affairs, Cousin Kula, Lobster, Adam Scriven, Mr Tea…
UK: Following the launch of A Greener Festival’s training programmes, the first one-day course to be held in London has now sold out. A handful of spaces are available for the course held in Manchester this month. A Greener Festival has developed the course ‘Introduction to Environmental Assessment of Festivals and Events’, drawing upon the last 10 years of experience in assessing festivals around the world, as well as associate expertise in the areas such as waste management, power, transport, land use, communication and behaviour. Designed to train auditors to complete assessments at festivals and events on behalf of the…
UK: DHP Family has appointed promoter Dan Ealam as Director of its newly created DHP Live (Concerts, Festivals and Ticketing) division. The new role will see Dan join the board at DHP Family and work alongside owner George Akins and fellow director Anton Lockwood to provide strategic overview to the company’s burgeoning live business. A key priority will be to ensure the focus remains firmly on delivering the best live experience for the artist and the audience. Ealam said: “I love working at DHP because I feel George, Anton, myself and the rest of the team have the same ethos…
UK: The Ticketline Network, the UK’s self-proclaimed leading festival ticketing partner, has announced the launch of Ticketlight – a self-service ticketing solution to support promoters and provide full control of their ticket sales and event management. Designed by the industry leading experts from Ticketline in conjunction with leading festival and event promoters, Ticketlight promises to deliver innovative and simple online ticketing technology to the market. “We want promoters get the most out of their events,” said Colin Mableson, Managing Director of The Ticketline Network. “Ticketlight allows them to do this, with full support from Ticketline and our years of experience…
MK, Jamie Jones, Kerri Chandler and Art Department are just some of the names confirmed for the first edition of Groovefest Malta, set to take place from April 29 – May 1 at venues across the island. Insights spoke with Groovefest co-founder Jason Nelhams about what to expect from the brand’s first foray into the Mediterranean. Festival Insights: Groovefest originates from the Dominican Republic and enters its fourth year in 2016. What led to the decision of creating a new festival in Malta? Jason Nelhams: After a number of successful years in the Caribbean, we felt it was time to…
UK: Jeremy Corbyn – leader of the UK Labour Party – has accepted Billy Bragg’s invitation to speak at Glastonbury’s Left Field stage on behalf of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. In his announcement of the coup, Bragg stated: ‘The election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader has galvanised a new generation of activists and this year at Left Field and we aim to give them a platform to discuss issues around social justice, the economy, gender and the possibilities for genuine change under a Corbyn government.’ A spokesperson for Corbyn told The Mirror: ‘Jeremy has long been a fan…