Issue 50 August/September 2011 £4.75
Praise for T in the Park revellers
Protests over Olympia tube closure plan By Christina Eccles LEADING industry figures have joined forces to protest against the proposed closure of the Olympia District Line Tube connection – warning of the ‘disastrous’ impact it could have on the venue. 20 senior executives from the UK events sector have signed a letter which has been sent to TFL managing director Mike Brown, highlighting the industry’s fear that if the Tube link does close many show organisers will think again about using Olympia and instead look for other venues with better transport links. Each year 803,000 visitors take the District Line from Earls Court to reach the conference centre – making up 73 per cent of the venue’s total visitors. CEO of the Association of the Event Organisers Austen Hawkins said: “Once the news came out that TFL wanted to close the tube link to Olympia, I have been absolutely bombarded by my members who are deeply concerned about the viability of their shows at Olympia if the District Line closes. In these tough economic times, it is difficult enough to get people to attend shows; taking
away a direct tube link could make it virtually impossible. “I call on Boris Johnson and TFL to see the huge economic importance of the events business to the West London economy and not to do anything that could threaten it. Otherwise this could be the start of the slow death of London Olympia.” London Olympia is currently one of the UK’s most important conference and exhibition centres, with over 1.1m people visiting it each year. The centre and its associated shows contribute over half a billion pounds to West London per year. Andy Center, CEO of CloserStill Media, has also signed the letter. He added: “We have based our events business close to Olympia as we run many shows there. We know that closing the tube link to Olympia will have a disastrous effect on our business, and will certainly make us consider whether to continue to use Olympia as a venue and also force us to reconsider where our business is based.” TFL created an online consultation on the closure of the station, via its website, and is currently reviewing the responses.
Harry Potter mania is sweeping the events world, with one event management company claiming it will be this year’s most popular Christmas party theme. Pretty Clever Events has reported a big interest in clients looking for festive events based on the hit books and film series, according to founding director Sam Harrington-Lowe. She added: “Each year we offer a wide range of themes. But by far the most popular in terms of enquiries is Harry Potter this year. So we’ve been up to our eyes in candelabras, bookcases, castle props, vintage luggage cases and so on. Not to mention brooms and wands.” Pictured Harry Potter star Emma Watson
FESTIVAL organisers and Tayside Police have praised revellers at T in the Park, billing it as one of the festival’s best years ever. According to figures, crime was down this year, with 53 arrests being made between Thursday’s opening night and top billing Foo Fighters closing the event at midnight on Sunday. This figure compares with 64 arrests at the same time last year, 59 in 2009 and 69 in 2008. Most of the arrests were for misuse of drugs, theft and breach of the peace. Festival director Geoff Ellis said: “We were delighted with the behaviour of the fans throughout T in The Park. Even a deluge of rain on Sunday failed to dampen the greatnatured and carnival spirit of the crowd. “Event commander chief superintendent Craig Suttie and his team led the way with the community style policing of his officers and it worked superbly well. This, along with the excellent work of the stewards, made this one of the best – and safest – T in the Parks ever.” For more on T in the Park see our festival round up feature starting on Page 9