3rd March 2021
Yesterday the Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a series of financial measures designed to provide relief to the events industry, although some in the industry, including the Association Of Festival Organisers, have been left frustrated. The Chancellor announced a 5% reduced VAT rate on ticket sales, which will be extended until 30th September 2021, followed by an interim rate of 12.5% for the f...
2nd March 2021
Sustainability - You Think Covid Is Bad! You think Covid-19 was bad, well wait and see what happens when climate change really kicks in. You might think that will be tomorrow or even next year, but watch the ice melting, watch the floods, the sea level rise, the plastic waste, the birds leaving UK later and coming back early. Look at the spring flowers turning up earlier than usual, th...
2nd March 2021
If you are planning on staging a festival be it normal, Covid-safe or completely different, do what you can to support your mobile caterer, and if possible, make it one local to you. In a recent survey conducted by NCASS (Caterers Association) 46.55% of those responding usually get the bulk of their turnover each year from events and festivals. Clearly, this didn’t happen in 2020. ...
2nd March 2021
Just to help cut speculation and to assist in clarity, if you are wondering what to do, thinking of running your festival or tickets have already gone on sale I strongly recommend you read this detail first. In particular Section 3 and 4. If this does not answer your questions or give you the guidance you need, drop a line to [email protected] and we will try and Answer your ...
2nd March 2021
Hello Members and Friends I hope you are all keeping safe and well and no doubt excited about the light at the end of the tunnel. Just how bright is it shining at the moment (1 March) is debatable, but it is there, and I really don’t think it is going to go out. There is a determination not only throughout the country and certainly in our industry to get moving again. We ma...
2nd March 2021
Stakeholder reaction responding to news that the Chancellor will announce nearly £410m extra money for arts, culture and heritage industries. This includes a £300m boost for the Culture Recovery Fund, an extra £90m to support our National Museums and cultural bodies to bridge the months ahead, and nearly £20m for culture projects in regio...
1st March 2021
‘An amazing platform for an amazing day’. Just one of the very kind statements from delegates at the end of the AFO Online Conference 20 February 2021. This was a 12-hour streamed event which included 163 delegates, representing 60 festivals. Clearly the AFO Conference could not be a face-to-face event as normal so delegates and speakers were all at home using a variety of devices. ...
25th February 2021
...
24th February 2021
Live music industry umbrella group LIVE (Live music Industry Venues & Entertainment), which has been involved in initiatives including the #LetTheMusicPlay and #KeepVATat5 campaigns, has formally launched. Declaring itself “the voice of the UK’s live music industry”, LIVE is a federation of more than a dozen live music industry associations including the Association of Ind...
23rd February 2021
Speaking at the Association of Organisers Conference on Saturday, 20 February, UK Music Chief Executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin outlined how festivals can play key role in the post-pandemic economic and cultural recovery but the right support was key, including a government-backed insurance scheme. Njoku-Goodwin said that as long as the festival industry is unable to operate viably, Government must...
22nd February 2021
On 22 February, the Prime Minister set out his road map for ending the lockdown. Of course, he didn’t say that festivals and big events could start again, but there was the tiniest glimmer of hope in his statement. He made quick reference to events but said the word “testing “on several occasions. The festival industry as we know it cannot handle testing at the gate of the ...
22nd February 2021
Following the prime minister’s announcement in the House of Commons today, 22 February, that major live events will not be able to return until 17 May, and it will be at least 21 June before full capacity shows can resume, the events industry has called on the Government to support impacted businesses and individuals during the downtime. “While it is good to get some clarity followi...
18th February 2021
Launch: 18th February Crux of the campaign: As you will be well aware, the live events industry has been hit incredibly hard by COVID and the associated lockdown and social distancing measures. As representatives of individuals and companies working in the live events supply chain, our campaign is focused on the fact that the government has frequently appeared blind to the impacts on the su...
.PNG)
10th February 2021
UTA has signed Nathan Evans, the Scottish singer who found fame on TikTok for his rendition of the whaling ballad ‘Soon May the Wellerman Come’, for worldwide representation. Evans, a former postman who is credited with inspiring the unlikely social media craze around sea shanties, has held the no.2 spot in the UK charts for three weeks with the 220 Kid/Billen Ted remix of ‘We...
10th February 2021
The Department for Health and Social Care have announced that over 230 local authorities in England are now offering rapid Covid-19 testing. They have also launched a new postcode checker to help people who need to leave home for work find out if rapid Covid-19 testing is offered by their local authority or near their place of work. https://www.gov.uk/find-covid-19-lateral-flow-test-site...
9th February 2021
‘Building his legacy’: Drystone launch the Mick Peat Drystone Bursary. Following the sad loss of our dear friend and founding President Mick Peat, community arts enterprise Drystone are pleased to announce that "The Mick Peat Drystone Bursary" fund has been established in his memory. The crowdfunder is aiming to initially raise £2,500 to seed the bursary, which wi...
8th February 2021
Sustainable practises: A fine example from FolkEast In Suffolk we have a council backed organisation called the Suffolk Carbon Charter which is a great way to measure the progress we make each year. We were awarded the Silver Charter in 2014 and in 2018 we were promoted to Gold for showing an improvement each year. We set out from the start with FolkEast to have as lower carbon footprint ...
4th February 2021
Speaking at the DCMS Select Committee inquiry into the future of UK music festivals earlier this week it was great to hear that Rowan Cannon, Wild Rumpus confirm that her company’s two 5,000-capacity festivals could be staged even if social distancing measures had to be implemeted. Read the article here: https://accessaa.co.uk/festivals-as-safe-as-sainsburys/ To vie...
4th February 2021
#KeepVATat5 This has been one of the most difficult years ever for the live music industry, with a reduction of more than 80% in revenue across the industry. As one of the first industries to close and likely the last to reopen, the Cultural Recovery Fund was a lifeline for some businesses in our industry. Alongside the CRF was a promised reduction in the rate of VA...
1st February 2021
See and Hear UK MUSIC CEO fight our corner for festivals. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000ry1z/politics-live-01022021 (Starts around 20.56 mins in)...
