30th September 2023
Now here’s a great new idea. A new trade unit has just been in touch and suggested his mobile barber’s shop would be a great addition to a festival site. Fully kitted out with his own electrics from solar power and ready and willing to travel to festivals around the country. Paul, trading as Trim Fadeys Mobile Barbers can be contacted as follows: Paul Horry: paulangus...
30th September 2023
It would be remiss of us here at the AFO office not to recognise the loss of three major contributors to the British acoustic folk roots music scene. We have recently lost Dr Tom Brown, singer, musician, collector, producer; the amazing musician Gareth Turner, band leader, Morris musician and melodeon master; and raconteur MC and Firework Master, Keith Rusby. I have no idea whether there is any k...
29th September 2023
AFO has worked with Access All Areas on its Conference & Awards event at London’s EartH (Evolutionary Arts Hackney) on 16 November to offer a 10% discount on tickets for members. The morning conference will include three panels involving speakers such as Continental Drifts director Chris ‘Tofu’ Macmeikan, Black Deer Festival co-founder Gill Tee, We Are The...
28th September 2023
We’re at an exciting moment in time, with the impending addition of a new Sustainability Chapter for The Purple Guide. I have sat on the Vision: 2025 steering group alongside some very passionate, knowledgeable pioneers since 2015. They have progressively assembled a comprehensive data bank of free-to-access guidance and resources to help outdoor event organisers reduce and minimise their ...
27th September 2023
Event Professionals and Sustainability Leaders Confirmed as Speakers for SES 23, October 18th, 2023 including Steve Heap at 15:15. Vision 2025, supported by The Showman’s Show and Festival Republic, continues to shape climate action for the UK outdoor event industry by bringing event organisers, suppliers, climate organisations and green leaders together to share innovations, disc...
26th September 2023
The UK’s largest family arts and culture conference returns!More families are in need than ever before. It’s essential that the cultural sector can reframe, rethink and recharge to ensure families do not miss out on the benefits and joy that cultural and creative opportunities can bring. Join arts, community and family support professionals from across the UK, as we exp...
26th September 2023
Hello Members and Friends. Since I last wrote to you all back in August, we had just a few days of summer sun and I am not quite sure what happened to the rest of summer, but the tail end of August wasn’t too bad. Maybe we are due for an Indian Summer in mid-October. It could happen. Meanwhile, we have had a busy few weeks in the office with BBC Food Programme from Radio4 contacting us to d...
25th September 2023
The Event Industry Forum invites applications for grants for projects that will benefit the outdoor events industry. The Forum, which brings together 33 trade bodies and similar organisations from across the outdoor event industry, has funding available to support projects that will be of general benefit to the outdoor sector. Since taking over publication of The Purple Guide from the ...
22nd September 2023
DBT have launched consultation called Smarter Regulation which is to do with transparency of product information for consumers. That will include the sale of tickets. Gone are the days when you can put on sale a ticket for £120 and not tell the customer that there will be a booking fee, postal charges, insurance, venue sustainability charge and various other add-ons. Ever...
21st September 2023
MLD recently joined AFO as a supplier and I am pretty sure they are the first group of their kind to appear on the festival scene, having worked with such events as Wickham, The Long Road Festival, Junction 2, Love Supreme, The Big It, Brighten Fringe, Vegan Campout, Hyde Park Winter Wonderland and the Vision Group. Richard Charidge, CEO, is quite sure that MLD is supplying a service to festival...
21st September 2023
A Greener Future (previously Festival) is asking you to engage with their power project Low Emission Festivals which has been put together through LIVE Green earlier this year. See this webpage. Its purpose is to get the survey completed by as many UK festivals and power providers as possible and AFO is partnering in order to provide a most comprehensive survey. Take a few moments to complete yo...
21st September 2023
The Power of Events will launch its Insight app on 28 September as it kicks off a ‘Four Nations’ tour featuring over 20 engagements throughout October. The app, which will be available to download from both the Apple Store and Google Play, is designed to help industry partners with data and research needs. The app will be promoted via The Power of Events’ Cross Four Nation To...
20th September 2023
UK Music have launched a Manifesto for Music which outlines the key asks for all parties ahead of the forthcoming conference season and the very likely run up to the next election. The Manifesto urges the next government to develop a comprehensive, medium to long-term music strategy for growth. To access the full manifesto click here and comment direct to Tom Kiehl, Tom.Kiehl@ukmus...
19th September 2023
This was the title of an Access All Areas article written by Gus Agostini and in the main I do have to disagree with a lot of what he is suggesting. The teeny-bop rock and pop world may well have lost a good number of its potential customers during Covid, some of whom have yet to come back and some of whom have never actually accessed a festival. However, throughout the AFO there is very cl...
18th September 2023
As a group of activists lead by Chris Johnson (Shambala Festival) are close to completing the Sustainability Chapter for the Events Industry Forum’s Purple Guide, some major editorial decisions have had to be made. In that the Chapter was beginning to get too long. It will be skilfully trimmed by Chris and the team without losing its main purpose to guide and inform. Julie's Bicycle&n...
17th September 2023
Without Vision2025, of which AFO is a founder and Steering Group member, we would be somewhat floundering around trying to find best ways to help solve the climate crisis. It is therefore fair to say that when Vision2025 updates the website Mission Statement we should support it. Here it is, in their words. ‘Vision2025 is here to help the outdoor events industry take action on...
16th September 2023
With less than two months to go till The Events Summit 2023, are you ready to socialise and network with the crème de le crème of the event industry? Taking place at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, on the 1st of November 2023, this is the industry’s exhibition of the year, so don’t miss out and take advantage of meeting the best event suppliers that the industry has...
15th September 2023
There's a busy September ahead for Outdoor Arts UK and they're looking forward to seeing the Summer out with a bang! Angus is currently in Spain for FiraTàrrega so if you're lucky enough to be there, do say hello and Catch OAUK at Out There Festival, Fresh (Circostrada), Inside Out Dorset, Derby Festé, and Arts by the Sea Bournemouth later this month. To rea...
14th September 2023
Play Wild and Free - Just So 2023! It’s been a wonderful summer for the team at Wild Rumpus, kicking off the season with a beautiful celebration of the natural world at Timber Festival, then bounding into the immersive world of play at Just So Festival! Check out their latest news... We are riding high on this glowing review of Just So Festival by MEN...‘In its 13th year J...
14th September 2023
The board of EIF are delighted to welcome the South Coast Events Forum to the ranks of EIF. They will add an additional voice to the debates from an events point of view to work alongside the many event suppliers associations that currently make up EIF. Craig Mathie (previous director of Bournemouth 7’s) with south coast colleagues formed the association to bring together the many and va...
