News & Articles
Articles about and affecting the outdoor events industry, breaking news and articles of interest throughout the year.
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Cleethorpes Show Proves Challenging
A new show in Cleethorpes proved challenging for organisers who had the task of liaising with both the local airport and coastguard to ensure they weren’t affected by the event. Almost 3,000 people attended the Meridian Fire and Light Festival, which took place in the town’s Meridian Park.
But as the event included a laser show and fireworks, its close proximity to Humberside Airport and to the coast meant planning had to be carefully considered.
Coventry Celebrating
The organisers of Coventry’s biggest festival are celebrating after winning a top tourism award. The Godiva Festival won best one off or annual event at the Heart of England Excellence in Tourism Awards, which were handed out at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham.
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New Venue for Boutique Festival
Boutique festival The Magic Loungeabout will return in 2010 at a new venue – Broughton Hall in North Yorkshire.
The event will now be spread over a full weekend and organisers have added new features such as a speaker’s tent, cinema and restaurant. It is hoped the festival will attract up to 3000 festivalgoers.
Confused.com Party
THE ‘unbirthday’ of price comparison site confused.com was celebrated with a themed party in Cardiff, created by Push4.
200 guests from insurance companies across the UK were welcomed to the Alice in Wonderland themed event at the National Museum where they were treated to a Mad Hatter’s tea party. PR manager Kelly Davies said: “The Unbirthday celebration was a brilliant night full of fun, wonderful and unique aspects – a bit like Confused.com.”
Showman's Attracts 4500 Visitors
This year's Showman's Show attracted over 4,500 visitors, organisers have revealed.
Over two days at Newbury Showground in Berkshire, visitors experienced a full and varied programme – including the chance to see new equipment, seminars and product launches.
They were also spoilt for choice when it came to catering options, with many companies using the event to showcase new services. There were also celebrations including one from Custom Covers, which threw a party to mark its 25th anniversary.
They were also spoilt for choice when it came to catering options, with many companies using the event to showcase new services. There were also celebrations including one from Custom Covers, which threw a party to mark its 25th anniversary.
Successful Year for Brighton
Organisers of the Brighton Festival have rounded off a successful year by being crowned Tourism Event of the Year at an awards ceremony.
This year’s festival impressed judges at the Tourism South East Tourism ExSEllence Awards after delivering 165 events – including 26 premieres and commissions and 11 free outdoor performances – across three weeks in May. The festival will now go on to represent the city at the national Enjoy England for Excellence Awards which take place in April.
DIGITAL station BBC Radio1Xtra is hosting its biggest ever event in Sheffield later this month.
The station has secured artists including Dizzee Rascal, Tinchy Stryder and JLS to play a free gig at Sheffield Arena in front of up to 12,000 fans.
The station has secured artists including Dizzee Rascal, Tinchy Stryder and JLS to play a free gig at Sheffield Arena in front of up to 12,000 fans.
Free tickets will be allocated via the arena box office before being made available online.
EVENT branding specialists Sunbaba celebrated with clients Fonix LED and Daytona Stage Hire at the Showman’s Show – where both companies won stand awards adorned with Sunbaba’s branding.
For Daytona, Sunbaba created striking promotional banners and full stage branding with the company’s logos and yellow theming.
For Daytona, Sunbaba created striking promotional banners and full stage branding with the company’s logos and yellow theming.
Daytona’s Paul Haigh said:“As usual Sunbaba delivered its top quality services and supplied us with branding which made the stand look extremely professional. Sunbaba are regular suppliers both to ourselves and our clients and we truly believe that the eye catching branding helped us to win.”
A REPORT has been commissioned to assess the economic impact of the Reading Festival.
Promoter Festival Republic has brought on board Bristol based consultants Baker Associates to determine just how valuable the event is to the local economy.
Promoter Festival Republic has brought on board Bristol based consultants Baker Associates to determine just how valuable the event is to the local economy.
The results will be used to ensure the benefits from the festival are capitalised upon in the future.
THE first ever Middle East based Creamfields will be held in Abu Dhabi next month.
The festival will be organised in partnership with local company Flash Entertainment and will include some of the world’s best known dance DJs performing to thousands of people across multiple arenas.
It is hoped the event will put Abu Dhabi on the map as a destination for major festivals.
It is hoped the event will put Abu Dhabi on the map as a destination for major festivals.
A NEW security task force set up to tackle crime at some of the UK’s most popular festivals has reported a successful first year.
The task force was launched by the Association of Independent Festivals to encourage security companies to work with organisers and local police forces to develop strategies which would deter criminals from operating at AIF member festivals.
As part of this, a community policing strategy was developed, where security personnel were allocated to specific zones on festival sites to spot potential criminal activity. A trial at RockNess proved an immediate success – with reported crime down by 95 per cent.
THE streets of Wembley were transformed into a sea of light when a record breaking 60,000 people turned out for the annual Brent Diwali.
Brightly lit floats, costumed dancers and musicians twirled their way through Ealing Road to the final destination in Barham Park, where revellers watched a fireworks and laser show.
AN event organiser has criticised BSI’s decision to charge for the revised version of BS8901, claiming some smaller companies may be put off by the price tag.
The standard – which deals with sustainability at events – has been updated to make it easier to read and give greater guidance to organisers, suppliers and venues wanting to become BS8901 compliant.
But managing director of Seventeen Events, Andrew Williams said that although he welcomes the new version, he feels it may prove too expensive for some organisations to afford.
But managing director of Seventeen Events, Andrew Williams said that although he welcomes the new version, he feels it may prove too expensive for some organisations to afford.
AFTER a successful first year, the UK Festival Conference is to return with a greater capacity and new panel of speakers.
The conference has relocated to the Vue Cinema within the O2 complex in London and will host 500 delegates from across the UK’s festival industry. Sessions will include information on the fight back against campsite crime at festivals and how organisers can sustain a successful festival brand.
THIS year’s MOBO Awards included a special tribute to Michael Jackson who was honoured with a lifetime achievement award.
The awards were held in Glasgow for the first time and attracted a sell out crowd of 7,000.
Watch out for a special feature on the awards in the next issue of The Main Event.
Watch out for a special feature on the awards in the next issue of The Main Event.
FIREFLY Solar is celebrating after being awarded Supplier of the Year at the 2009 Event Awards.
The awards were held at London’s Park Lane Hilton, with each supplier in the category having to provide three examples of how their service had enhanced the quality of an event through innovation, level of service, impact on the feel of the event and the challenges they overcame.
Firefly chose The Age of Stupid Film premiere, Innocent Smoothie Village Fete and BBC’s Springwatch as their case studies.
The awards were held at London’s Park Lane Hilton, with each supplier in the category having to provide three examples of how their service had enhanced the quality of an event through innovation, level of service, impact on the feel of the event and the challenges they overcame.
Firefly chose The Age of Stupid Film premiere, Innocent Smoothie Village Fete and BBC’s Springwatch as their case studies.
MD Andy Mead said: “We are extremely pleased to have received the recognition for our hard work over the past two years and are glad the events industry is welcoming new companies and embracing evolving technologies like ours.”
UP to 2,000 competitors are expected to take part in this weekend’s Bradford City Run.
Sporting legends including boxer Amir Khan and cricket umpire Dickie Bird have also pledged their support for the event by donating prizes for the race number raffle.
Sporting legends including boxer Amir Khan and cricket umpire Dickie Bird have also pledged their support for the event by donating prizes for the race number raffle.
All entrants into any of the four race categories – 10 mile, five mile, four person relay and children’s fun run – will have their unique runner’s number entered into the raffle and the chance to win the prizes.
BESTIVAL has been nominated for five awards at this year’s UK Festival Awards – including the prestigious Best Medium Sized Festival.
The event has also been nominated for Best Dance Event, Best Toilets, Best Headline Performance – for all three of the festival’s headliners – and Virtual Festivals Critics' Choice Award.
Festivalgoers can vote using the dedicated awards website and as an extra incentive, one voter will win a pair of tickets to every winning festival next year. The awards will be announced at a special event taking place next month at the O2 in London.
EVENTS in Sheffield are worth over £12m to the city’s economy, it has been revealed.
New research carried out by Sheffield International Venues (SIV) shows the economic benefit of events hosted across its 14 facilities in the city, in the last financial year, equates to £12.7m.
The figures are based on almost 900 events, which brought in over 151,000 business tourists to Sheffield, and includes those held at venues such as Ponds Forge Sheffield and Don Valley Stadium.
General manager of SIV Conferencing and Events and City Hall Sheffield Dominic Stokes said: “One of SIV’s key objectives is to maximise economic impact for the city and these figures show that as a business tourism destination we are right up there with traditional destinations such as London and Birmingham.”
THE team behind a successful event in Wales have launched a new programme designed to maintain year round interest in the festival.
The Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod has been running for the past 62 years, attracting choirs and folk dance groups from around the world to compete.
To build on its success, organisers have now decided to introduce new events called LIMELife which will take place in autumn, winter and spring, culminating with the main event in July.
This will allow festival fans to take part in events throughout the year and also introduce new supporters to the festival by raising its profile.
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