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Issue 41 July 2010 £4.75
Festivals in £130m boost to economy
Debate over the worth of sponsorship By Christina Eccles AN industry debate has broken out over the value of sponsorship at festivals. While some events insist that backing from sponsors is vital to the success of their event, others have hit back by saying it can be detrimental. The Wychwood Festival has worked with brands such as The Independent and Waitrose and codirector Sam Shrouder said these assocations can work well – providing they tie in with a festival’s ethos and what the audience want. He said: “It’s a great partnership with Waitrose. It’s nice when people want to invest money to support us because it’s very expensive to put the festival on. “There are festivals that have reached a situation where they make large profits and decide they don’t need sponsors. “But we are really pleased to have them. The Independent have been a sponsor for five years and the support, help and advice they have given us has been absolutely crucial.” For Westminster Council, organisers of Westminster Live, backing from sponsors is necessary to ensure the event is able to go ahead without
introducing ticket prices. Organiser Coun Robert Davis added: “It costs £250,000 to put the event on, which is funded through sponsorship. Sponsors are a vital part.” But some are keen to steer clear of using too many brands at their event – claiming it can ruin the experience for festivalgoers. Co founder of Kendal Calling Andy Smith added: “Before I started running the festival, I went to Leeds Festival, which was sponsored by Carling, so the only thing you could drink was Carling. “I took issue with that. Not only because it ruins the name of a festival but because it also has a detrimental effect on the event because choice is limited for festivalgoers. In that way sponsorship is bad.” Andy added although the festival has partnered with certain brands, those they choose to work with have to add value without detracting from the festival itself. He added: “Any sponsorship has to have a beneficial impact and nothing too garish. We don’t want to get away from it being Kendal Calling so we steer away from corporate signs and re-named stages.”
VISITORS to independent festivals will contribute more than £130m to the UK economy this year, according to the results of a new survey. The Association of Independent Festivals spoke to almost 5,000 festivalgoers to discover their attitudes towards attending festivals and their spending habits. About 350,000 people will attend an AIF member festival, such as Creamfields, Bestival or Field Day this summer and the results showed that festivalgoers will provide a vital boost to local economies when they go to an event. AIF general manager Claire O’Neill said: "It is good to see that for another year despite an overall economic downturn, independent festivals continue to make a great contribution both nationally and locally.” For more on what the survey said see our festival round up section starting on Page 13
Liverpool has been named as the host city for this year’s MOBO Awards. The annual event will be celebrating its 15th birthday at the Echo Arena in October – showcasing and honouring some of the biggest names in music. The news was announced by MOBO’s founder Kanya King and singer and previous award winner Leona Lewis (pictured).
The Main Event is the official magazine of the National Outdoor Events Association