Virtual Festival

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‘Green’ cuts would be a mistake

By Christina Eccles ORGANISERS who cut back on their environmental policies to save money during the credit crunch will suffer the consequences, the promoter of one of the UK’s biggest music festivals has warned.

Geoff Ellis – promoter of T in the Park – said that once an event has introduced ideas to protect the environment, it would be foolish for its organisers to take a step backwards – even if money is tight.

He said: “Once you have done something it is hard to go back on it. If you cut back on quality, it can only go one way and once you start doing that, the audience will disappear.

“It is the same with sustainability if you start ignoring things because money is tighter. If you have to cut budget, try to do something more efficiently.”

However, Geoff added the current economic climate will affect the festival market and some events may struggle to keep going this year.

He added: “Half of our tickets have already been sold so we may

be speaking from an easier position than some, but it would be foolish to cut back on things which we are already responsible for.

“It will be difficult. The good will survive but some events may disappear or may take a year off.

“It is not going to be easy but the festival business in the UK is very strong.”

Although T in the Park has taken on an environmental consultant to help the festival keep on the right track with its environmental policies, according to the director of energy management specialist Julie’s Bicycle, Alison Tickell, the event industry as a whole is still not addressing all of the most important issues.

She added: “The green economy has got to grow and the festival industry is in a good position to take the lead on that.

“There has been a growth of interest in green issues at festivals but we haven’t seen much of a focus on the real problem which is carbon emissions and climate change. We need to take a big shift forward to deal with greenhouse gas emissions.”

Organisers could save on their insurance

Singer Katy Perry has been revealed as one of the acts performing at this year’s T in the Park. She joins a line-up which also includes Kings of Leon and Snow Patrol at the festival which takes place from July 9-12 at Balado, Kinross-shire.

Last year’s festival included new measures designed to make the experience better for festivalgoers – such as a five point plan to help visitors travelling to and from the festival site.

ORGANISERS who commit to going green at their events could save money on insurance thanks to a partnership between Robertson Taylor and A Greener Festival.

Robertson Taylor will sponsor the Greener Festival Awards and as part of this deal, will offer discounts on certain insurance products for festivals who sign up to a number of sustainability indicators endorsed by A Greener Festival.

Festival organisers are required to implement a minimum of five environmentally friendly actions from a total of 16 green initiatives to qualify for the discount.

Managing director John Silcock said: “The environment is and will always be an important issue. As part of our community programme, we are delighted to support A Greener Festival’s work and to support festivals that are reducing their environmental impact.”

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Many music festivals ‘a resounding success’ events in previous years we had found that there was some confusion about licensing rules at events and organisers were having trouble making sure that staff had the correct licences for the jobs they were doing.

per cent of those in licensable roles did not have all the correct paperwork.

Security licensing tests were carried out at Glastonbury, T in the Park, Leeds and Reading, which attracted over 325,000 visitors.

“So we decided to work more closely with the industry this year and went in at the beginning of the season to identify the main issues and try to solve them.

“Individuals are responsible for getting their own licences and they, and the company that supplies them are liable if they fail to do so.

Investigators checked that all the security measures and staff at the events were legal and reported an average compliance level of 95 per cent.

“We worked on providing some very specific job descriptions for event roles so everyone could be clear they had the right person for the right job.”

SIA head of investigation, Nigel Davies, said: “When looking at

Across the four events 220 separate checks were done and only five

By Louise Cordell MANY of 2008’s music festivals have been described as a resounding success by the Security Industry Authority after it carried out checks on four of the country’s biggest shows.

Nigel added: “The responsibility for making sure that events are complying with all the rules should be shared.

“However, event organisers should not turn a blind eye and need to make sure that they are hiring legitimate and licensed staff.”

The SIA is now in the process of deciding whether further checks, possibly on a selection of smaller

festivals, will be needed this year.

Andy Drane, SIA deputy chief executive said: “The high levels of compliance shown for the summer operation demonstrates that festival organisers recognise the professionalism and value of SIA licensed security operatives.

“For many music festivals are the summer, but it is vital that the hundreds of thousands who attend these events are safe in an environment provided by qualified and licensed security staff.

“Our investigators will continue to work with festival organisers and security providers to build on the success of this operation in ensuring public safety.”

Crowd surfing at festivals has long been seen as dangerous. But it can have a valuable use, according to Festival Medical Services’ Mike Sinclair.

Crowd surfing can have a valuable use ...

By Christina Eccles Tickets for Hard Rock Calling’s Bruce Springsteen concert on June 28 have sold out – less than an hour after going on sale.

The Hyde Park gig will also include performances from Dave Matthews Band and The Gaslight Anthem.

Sundae tickets go on sale EARLY bird tickets have gone on sale for this year’s Summer Sundae Weekender – with prices starting at £92 for an adult ticket and £159 for one adult and two children.

The festival is also building on the success of 2006 and 2007, when it won the ‘Best Small Festival’ and the Red Kite’ award respectively at the UK Festival Awards.

Lovebox names THIS year’s Lovebox Weekender will include headline performances from Duran Duran, N.E.R.D and festival founders Groove Armada.

The event will take place across the weekend of July 18 and 19 at London’s Victoria Park.

CROWD surfing is common at rock festivals where there is a dense crowd that can lift a person up above their heads and pass them usually to the front of the stage.

At most concerts or festivals, the crowd surfer will be passed to the front – where there is usually a barrier – and will be lifted out by security stewards and sent to the side of the stage and either ejected back into the crowd (at the side of the stage) or, if injured/fainted/ill, taken to a medical facility by the side of the stage.

There are many people that feel crowd surfing should be banned, as it is inherently dangerous.

It is my experience gained over 15 years of co-ordinating the pit medical crew that the injuries sustained by crowd surfing per-se are very rare but occasionally can be very dangerous.

In the 15 years of working on the pit medical crew I have heard of only one serious injury as a direct cause of crowd surfing. Every year at Glastonbury and Reading Festivals we have some crowd surfing injuries but they are usual mild – bruises/cuts/concussion/sprains etc.

In 2000, at a Rock festival in Roskilde, Denmark, nine people died and several were wounded because they were trampled during a crowd surge at the start of a Pearl Jam con-

cert. Since that time crowd surfing has been banned by many festivals and concerts in Europe.

This, in my view, makes absolutely no sense.

The perfect way to get injured/trampled/unconscious people out of a crowded mosh pit area is to lift them up and pass them to the front of the stage i.e. by crowd surfing.

The Roskilde incident was caused by having, interspersed in the crowd, fixed barriers against which people were crushed.

This is what caused the deaths and injuries and also made it difficult to pass the injured up over the crowd to the front of the stage.

At UK concerts we do not have fixed barriers in the mosh pit area and so, the only place the audience could be crushed is right at the front of the stage, where they can be lifted out by security stewards.

It is for this reason that we approve of crowd-surfing because it is an extraordinarily good way of getting injured/collapsed/sick people out of the crowd.

Many people crowd-surf for fun and are lifted out by security staff and then returned to the festival. At Reading, four years ago, the City Council wanted to ban crowd-surfing but FMS pointed out to them that if

Mike Sinclair you ban crowd-surfing, you stop a very efficient way of getting sick people out of the crowd.

Mike Sinclair is a pit medical crew co-ordinator for Festival Medical Services (FMS) – a charitable trust providing doctors, nurses, paramedics, first aiders and other trained medical and administrative personnel to festivals including Glastonbury and Reading.

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Christina Eccles

Music lovers enjoy the Creamfields festival

Cheshire event brings £7.2m to local economy THE economic impact of one of the UK’s most popular festivals has been valued at over £7.2m.

A study into the Creamfields festival – conducted by England’s Northwest Research Service (ENWRS) – revealed how much the Cheshire event brings to the local economy – with much of the spend being retained in Cheshire and 100 per cent within the Northwest region.

About 65,000 tickets were sold for the festival on August Bank holiday weekend with 86 per cent of these coming from outside Cheshire and this year’s total spend, including the cost of tickets, represents a seven per cent increase on the income generated from the 2006 Creamfields.

For the first time in 2008, the festival was held over two days and offered camping facilities for festivalgoers – something which the survey indicated was a positive addition to the event.

According to the report, visitors spent an average of £151 per visitor and almost a third of those attending (29 per cent) were staying in the local area before or after the event.

Visit Chester and Cheshire chief executive Chris Brown said: "Creamfields is now in its third year in Cheshire and it is fantastic to see this event has managed to gather such momentum over the years.

“I am delighted the visitor economy has benefited enormously in

Cheshire and the North West region. We look forward to hosting the festival in 2009."

Visitor satisfaction ratings for the event were also high with an average score of 4.5 out of five.

62 per cent said they were likely come to future festivals and 69 per cent believed future Creamfields events should be two days.

Creamfields CEO James Barton added: “This report once again demonstrates the positive impact that Creamfields brings to the Halton and Warrington areas of Cheshire.

“We are delighted that overall numbers have increased and the local economy has benefited from the two day concept that we introduced in 2008.”

Festival facts: 97 per cent was the average hotel occupancy in the area on Saturday night.

29 per cent of visitors stayed in the area beyond the event itself; on average for 2.0 nights, with 44 per cent using serviced accommodation.

96 per cent of visitors were aged 1830.

52 per cent were male; 48 per cent female 59 per cent were on a repeat visit to Creamfields, compared to just 42 per cent in 2006.

60 per cent were in full time employ-

ment and 25 per cent were students.

95 per cent rated their overall enjoyment of the event as ‘good’ or ‘very good’ 76 per cent rated the event organisation and staff as ‘good’ or ‘very good’ 72 per cent rated it ‘very good’ or ‘good’ value for money.

Hopes high for festival season ...

WITH winter events now a distant memory, it is time for organisers to turn their attention to the summer season and for most this will include planning for festivals.

And in challenging economic times, it is more important than ever to make sure your event stands out from the competition and draws in the crowds.

However, it is not all doom and gloom as some experts have predicted that 2009 could be the strongest year yet for festivals as people decide to stay at home and spend their money going to events instead of going abroad – meaning organisers will push the boat out to provide strong line ups and great value for money.

The Main Event’s Virtual Festival supplement provides a step-by-step guide for anyone organising a festival in 2009, bringing together advice and comment from experts in all areas of event planning.

As always, we would love to hear how plans are going for your festivals and any other issues you feel are facing the outdoor events industry.

Send your views to ce@whpl.net or contact the editorial team on 01226 734463.

Headbanging can increase risk of injuries HEADBANGING at rock festivals and concerts can increase the risk of head and neck injuries, according to the findings of a new study.

The study – conducted by the School of Risk and Safety Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia – showed that headbanging to heavy metal music such as Led Zeppelin and AC/DC can lead to injuries.

The researchers attended concerts by bands such as these and identified that the up-down style was the most common head banging technique They then constructed a theoretical head banging model of this popular

‘The study showed that headbanging to heavy metal music such as Led Zeppelin and AC/DC can lead to injuries’ style to examine the effect the range of head and neck motion has on injury severity.

A focus group of 10 musicians was used to calculate the average tempo of their favourite head banging songs.

They found there is an increasing risk of neck injury beginning at tem-

pos of 130 beats per minute related to the range of motion in the head banging style.

The average head banging song has a tempo of about 146 beats per minute.

The authors suggest that at this tempo head banging may cause headaches and dizziness if the range

of movement of the head and neck is more than 75º.

They report that at higher tempos and greater ranges of motion there is an additional risk of neck injury.

However, the authors said there are steps which fans can take to protect against these injuries including calling for bands such as AC/DC to play songs such as “Moon River” instead of “Highway to Hell”, public awareness campaigns headed by musicians such as Cliff Richard and the labelling of music packaging with anti-head banging warnings.

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Tailor-made packages Sygma – the human face of for Chaos clients health and safety CHAOS Management is an event planning and management company that provides a full range of services for outdoor and one off specialist events.

After a successful year culminating in the planning and management of Music In The Sun, which is a nationally acclaimed festival in Sheffield, we are now looking forward to the new season ahead, event managing TreeFest (Nottingham) and the Proms At St Jude’s (London) amongst others, as well as the promise of our first international event in Dubai at Christmas if negotiations go well.

With 20 years of experience in the events industry, Chaos provide tailor

made packages for their clients.

Services including start to finish planning and management, licensing, health and safety consultation and documentation, authority liaison and CAD facilities for pre–production.

Then during the event we can provide event management, production management, site management, site safety officers and stage managers.

Chaos is committed to providing a quality of service that is professional, personable and reliable.

We are a one stop shop to event planning and management.

What our clients say: “I would not hesitate to recommend Chaos Management's professional high-quality event management services that always make your events safe, secure and enjoyable.”

Managing director, NonStop Events

SAFETY for events and festivals can be a daunting task for the novice with a plethora of rules and regulations to contend with.

Whether it’s the statutory Law regarding H&S or the mind-blowing number of conditions sometimes attached to premises licenses, it can be tricky to navigate through the language of regulation.

Sygma Safety and Events pride themselves on cutting through the red tape and producing simple but effective plans and documentation for their clients.

Equally at home out on site or in a Safety Advisory Group they relish the challenge of pushing forward the HSE’s “common sense” agenda.

But it’s not just about common sense.

Ask any adult on the street and they’ll say crossing a busy road is dangerous; then ask them how many of them DO cross a busy road away from a crossing and it’ll be most of them.

Sygma then is all about a common

sense approach which is then applied to the creative nature of events.

Sygma take the jargon and endless paperwork of events and make it plain speaking and effective.

Paperwork and documents should work for clients – no point in having the best and most comprehensive risk assessments in the world if they sit on a shelf looking nice.

They should be living documents which explain how an event can be run safely and efficiently.

And it’s this efficiency that is often overlooked.

If you apply common sense to risk management and safe systems of work; if you reduce incidents and accidents on your site by proper interpretation of the rules and regulations; then there will be efficiencies and cost savings on events – just what everybody needs in these challenging times.

Sygma – The Human Face of Health and Safety.

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One of the largest libraries in Europe offers selection of films to suit all kinds of events WHO are Filmbank?

Filmbank licence film screenings at events and festivals across the UK. All film screenings whether it be a fundraising event, a film tent at a festival or a screening alongside a product launch, require a

licence to remain within copyright law.

Filmbank represent Hollywood and independent film studios in this area with over 22 years of experience in dealing with key contacts within the events industry. Owned by Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures, the other studios Filmbank represent include Universal, Paramount, Dreamworks, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney International Pictures and MGM as well as smaller studios who can offer more cutting edge film titles.

With a catalogue of over 10,000 films and one of the largest film libraries in Europe, Filmbank have a selection of films to suit all kinds of events and provide organisers with a screenable copy of the film on DVD, as well as the licence required.

Which licence do I need?

The Single Title Screening Licence (STSL) is payable on a per film basis and starts from under £80 + VAT with prices dependent on audience size as well as the number of screenings required. The STSL is a commercial licence enabling the holder to charge for admittance to the screening as well as publicise the screening itself – making it the ideal tool for events organisers.

In order to apply for the licence all you need to do is visit the Filmbank website at www.filmbank.co.uk and click on the section for the Single Title Screening Licence. You will then find all the forms you need to apply as well as further information on which films are available which are updated on a weekly basis.

Film screenings prior to DVD or Pay TV With the STSL, many films are available only 10-12 weeks after cinema, prior to release on either DVD or Pay TV. This means that events have the ideal pull to attract customers, the screening of a film which at that time will not be available anywhere else – a real premiere event.

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Eve Trakway advises UK festival organisers to gear up for bad weather ...

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best ...

FESTIVAL season in the UK has a degree of cynicism attached to it, on one hand there is the excitement it brings, camping with friends and watching a line-up of world-class bands, and then, on the other, there is the typically bad weather and inevitable mud.

Eve Trakway, Europe’s leading supplier of temporary access solutions, knows only too well how the latter can affect the festival season. Over the past 40 years it has supplied barriers, fencing, roadways and walkways to high-profile events such as Glastonbury, the V Festivals and more recently Bestival.

Over the years, Eve Trakway has seen the requirements of its festival clients grow, as a result of the changing weather conditions in the summer months. There has been an increase in the demand for trakway to ensure that sites are as accessible as possible and in addition to this the company has seen increased demand for other ground protection products such as its plastic floor coverings.

Geoff Gorringe, key account manager for the festivals sector at Eve

Festival-goers enjoying bands in the Bestival main stage area Picture: Colin Friend Trakway, explained: “Year-on-year the weather at festivals is as well reported as the live bands, and seeing mud-clad celebrities in their wellies going from gig to gig has become commonplace. Although there is a comical element to it, the reality is a costly and logistical nightmare for the promoters and

organisers running these events.

“Wet weather brings with it a whole host of problems and organisers who are not sufficiently prepared for it not only risk cancellation of the festival, but could also hamper potential insurance claims and create health and safety issues with regards to access for the emer-

gency services and pedestrians.

“We are therefore advising our clients this year to plan and contact us early in case of bad weather to ensure we have ample stock and capacity to help with demand. As we say in the trade, ‘it’s better to prepare for the worst and hope for the best’.”

Left: Bestival 2008 Picture: Colin Friend Right: Eve Trakway plastic flooring in front of the Bestival main stage

Bestival 2008 LAST year, Bestival ran on the Isle of Wight from September 5-7. As one of the UK’s high profile festivals of the summer, event planners were well prepared to ensure all the necessary security and safety requirements were taken care of, in advance of the event, so that the 40,000 festival-goers could enjoy their weekend, without interruptions.

Bestival had put an array of access equipment in place, to ensure the safe movement of people in and around the festival. Eve Trakway’s initial order for Bestival included a

wide range of the company’s portfolio of products: temporary roadways and walkways; mesh and hihoard fencing; crowd control barriers; and, lookout towers.

Despite all the planning and precautions, disaster struck when a high category weather warning was broadcast two days before the show.

In an attempt to minimise the impact of 10 inches of rain in a 48hour period, the organisers turned to Eve Trakway in order to help implement additional safety measures, which would prevent a mud bath at the site and ensure the safe-

Emergency Service WITHOUT Eve Trakway’s rapid service and standby crew on hand to help, Bestival would have struggled to cope with the rain’s impact.

Mark Boddice, Eve Trakway’s project manager at Bestival, commented: “At a lot of our larger events we place a standby crew on site to facilitate any last minute or ongoing changes to the layout to ensure that they are carried out immediately, where feasible.

“With Bestival, by having crews on hand at the event ground, we could assess the situa-

ty of attendees.

The low-lying ground in front of the stage became dangerously waterlogged and as a result, Eve Trakway resurfaced, during the night, the entire main stage area and introduced additional temporary road and walkways in problem areas. An additional 5500 sq metres of Terraplas and Supa-Trac ground protection systems were laid on the site, to make it stable and enable visitors to see the planned gigs on the main stage.

Jim King, director from Loud Sound, one of the producers responsible for Bestival, said: “We

tion and immediately mobilise a team to implement the contingency plan of bringing in plastic flooring. Without the budget in place to implement that plan and the speed in which we worked throughout the day and night, 2008’s Bestival could have faced serious disruption from the bad weather.”

This year, Eve Trakway will be supporting a number of high-profile festivals and events including the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Chelsea Flower Show and the Badminton Horse Trials.

decided a few days before the festival that we wanted to take further precautionary measures to protect the customer experience. One of these involved laying a huge amount of plastic flooring in front of the main stage to ensure that this area would cope with the horrific amount of water that we were expecting. Eve Trakway’s input and expertise was first class, as they came in and transformed the area in a very short space of time and ultimately helped ensure this area was a usable space throughout the whole weekend.”

Eve Trakway standby crews facilitate last minute changes to event sites

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A simple and cost-effective solution UNDER the ‘pre treatment’ regulations, non-hazardous general waste must be pre-treated before disposal to landfill.

In its simplest form this can be achieved by separating out one or more materials for recycling. The good news is that recycling can actually help control or even reduce your costs.

Grundon’s ‘two bin’ system offers a simple and cost-effective solution, separating mixed recyclables (paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, steel and aluminium cans) from the remaining general waste.

What else can you do to minimise the cost of waste management?

Make a realistic estimate of visitors per day to gauge waste volume Consider the types of waste likely to arise, and what you can do to minimise them How much space is available for bins? (determines the size and type

you can use) Contractors typically use HGVs, so remember to plan access routes accordingly. Will they be subject to restricted opening hours or peak time congestion?

Do you need waste collections over a weekend? (Grundon is one of the only contractors that can provide this) If your event will generate unusual wastes, for example animal dung or spilt aviation fuel, can your normal contractor handle this or will you need to bring in a specialist?

Plan to have an operational contact easily accessible throughout the event, including ‘after hours’. Your contractors can alert them to potential difficulties before they arise and work with you to prevent them developing into problems Involve the waste contractor in your planning at an early stage.

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Texting is a good sign for festival medical staff THE ability to send a text message can be a sign that a patient taken ill at a festival is fit for discharge, according to experts.

Staff from Festival Medical Services – a charity which works at events such as Glastonbury and Reading – noticed that festivalgoers who fainted or had panic attacks were likely to text their friends as soon as they were able to.

Festival Medical Services’ Dr Mike Sinclair said a pit crew had been set up at Glastonbury several years ago to treat people near the stages because if they fainted or had panic attacks, the main medical centre was situated away from the stage.

They noticed that patients would text as soon as they were well enough – demonstrating a level of consciousness which may indicate they no longer need medical treatment.

He said: “We noticed that as soon as they were fit, they reached for their mobiles and texted their friends. If they can text, they must have enough coordination, given there are no other injuries. So as soon as they are able to text, we ask if they can stand up and if they can go back to the fes-

tival. This works very well.

“We have two tents at both Glastonbury and Reading behind each of the main stages that are staffed with an anaesthesist, two accident and emergency nurses and two to four first aides.”

Mike also said there can be many factors contributing to the number of incidents which the medical team will deal with at an event including the weather, alcohol consumption, audience profile and the type of acts which are performing.

He added: “When acts such as Leonard Coven have played at Glastonbury, we hardly saw anything but, for example, in 2004 Grenada played at Reading and there were over 1,000 people crowd surfing in an hour.

“Bands make a big difference. At Reading in 2008 we treated 556 people over three days and only six of them were transferred to the medical centre. During Rage Against the Machine we treated 130 and during Bloc Party 142. This is two or three people per minute so almost half of those we treated was during those two bands.”

Specialist offers help and advice to event organisers LIVE event specialist, Health and Safety Consultancy and Training Services, offers a range of help and advice to event organisers.

The company provides all safety management consultancy services, including attendance at meetings, safety policies, risk assessments and method statements.

This includes reviews of issues like accessibility, environmental matters and fire risk.

Kevin McLoughlin, MD, said: “We are experienced, knowledgeable, efficient and friendly.

“We show people that the services of a smaller organisation can be just as good, but more cost effective and personable than the larger companies.”

The company is also able to review contractors’ documents, offer safety officer services, carry out safety audits and inspections and take care of traffic management.

Also offered are accredited training courses on health and safety in the workplace, risk assessment and con-

flict resolution and personal safety.

John Sinigaglia, executive producer with WRG Creative Communication Ltd, said: “I have worked over several years with Kevin and he has never failed to be attentive to detail, thorough in his knowledge and pragmatic in his work style.

“He is always supportive, sees health and safety issues before they arise and comes through with intelligent and cost effective solutions to everyone’s satisfaction.”

For further information on any services, contact Kevin McLoughlin on 0161 763 7020 or e-mail: kevin@event-safety.org.

Examples of previous event work can be seen at: www.event-safety.org.

The tents at Glastonbury and Reading help festival medical services treat injured festivalgoers.

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Technology helps organisers communicate

By Christine Eccles

good source of information.

ORGANISERS of the Download Festival have revealed how technology is helping them to communicate with fans.

“I strongly believe it is a good marketing tool but also a good way of finding out what the fans expect. You can’t just find a field, build a stage and expect people to turn up. People want value for money.”

The festival set up its Download forum five years ago and since then the online community has grown rapidly, attracting thousands of people to chat with each other about the event and winning awards for its success.

As the forum grew, organisers Live Nation realised that the fans were discussing their likes and dislikes and what they would like to see at the event – and that this was something they could learn from and use to make changes and improvements at the festival to give visitors maximum value for money.

The process was started by inviting about 50 fans to a live forum in London and grew from there.

John Probyn

Live Nation’s COO Music, UK, John Probyn said: “We realised the importance of the conversations that the fans were having on there – it is a

John also revealed plans for 2009 which include changing the layout of certain parts of the site because of the venue – Donington Park – being developed for F1 racing.

He also said that despite some worries about the economy, there is still much to be positive about in the industry.

He added: “There are some good signs. Bands such as Take That and Oasis are selling out and we have a number of acts doing well.

“Maybe people will still buy tickets but merchandise and food and beverages may suffer. We will be able to tell when tickets go on sale but Download has a good loyal following.”

New ticketing options revealed THE organiser of the Glade Festival has revealed how a new range of ticketing options are helping visitors to the event beat the credit crunch.

The festival is offering tickets for 2009 at the same price as they were in 2008. Also, to help festivalgoers who may be strapped for cash, payment of the £125 price tag can be staggered until the end of March by paying a £50 deposit.

Students have also been encouraged to attend the festival with a special offer price on tickets of £99.

Festival director Nick Ladd, pictured above, said: “Recessions always affect skint people the most. £125 is a lot of money. The festival is as cheap as we can make it but we want to give people the opportunity to come.”

This year, the 10,000 capacity event is also moving sites to a new home near Winchester and, according to Nick, 2009 is shaping up to be the fes-

tival’s best year yet.

He revealed that the reason for moving was simple – at the old site, they were unable to play the music as late and loud as they wanted to, something which is an integral part of the festival. Nick added: “At the old site, for the last three years we had noise issues which we fought all the way.

The new site was used for another big dance festival – Homelands – and is beautiful. It’s perfect for us.

“We are really happy with our new home, it's really tailor-made for us – beautiful countryside, an event friendly council and no neighbours, so we can enjoy dance music as mother nature intended – outdoors and loud.”

The festival – which started life in 2000 as a stage at Glastonbury – won Best Dance Music Festival at the 2008 UK Festival Awards and this year’s event takes place from July 16-19.

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Mark Hamilton

The safety of visitors is a vital part of planning any event. Mark Hamilton, managing director of G4S Events, offers some advice on welcoming visitors and securing your festival ...

Offering safety, security and comfort G4S manage security and stewarding at a number of festivals including V Festival in Weston Park and T in the Park in Kinross-shire. For us, the services we provide are all about ensuring that visitors to an event feel safe, secure and comfortable, and have information they need to enjoy the event. Standard duties include: Ticket checking Safeguarding of entrance and exit points Patrolling campsites Provision of customer help zones Prevention of illegal ticket and merchandise sales Protection for VIP areas, backstage and production

Crowd management for all public space.

Car park patrols The festival that visitors attend is the conclusion to an extensive planning process. Security providers work with the event organisers in a multi agency approach involving local authorities, police and emergency services throughout the year to make sure that every eventuality has been prepared for and audience expectations are met. A responsible security provider will also see that staff under their command have had appropriate training and that positions which are governed by specific legislation are correctly filled, both of which are

vital in helping festival organisers to meet their legal obligations.

To ensure people can safely circulate throughout the festival site, the movement of visitors needs to be appropriately managed; this will include monitoring various aspects of crowd dynamics, for example: approach (transport), arrival (queuing space), access control (ticket check and searching), managing capacities in and around performance areas, audience activity and behaviour (surfing, moshing, etc).

Event security providers need to maintain accountability for visitor safety, whilst also allowing audiences the scope to have a good time.

First aid support; providing dedicated areas for people to get help; and providing assistance to visitors with disabilities are equally important, while externally, the interests of local residents and safeguarding their property can be part of the security or stewarding company’s remit.

Preventing the use of drugs and managing alcohol consumption on site is a core function as is protecting the perimeter. Using canine services to sniff out drugs or externally patrol fence lines and the careful deployment of car park security all increase the deterrent factor thereby forming the first line of defence against crime and disruption.

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The Virtual Festival is sponsored by Eve Trakway

Strengthening the Banish the blues links between festivals and tourism … go green Why the business case for social and environmental sustainability is stronger than ever by Caroline Coyle

IT may seem strange to talk about social and environmental sustainability as we navigate the economic downturn – surely it is financial sustainability that we have to focus on now.

Despite the economic chill, however, issues such as global warming have not gone away and the UK’s cold winter does not alter the longterm global trend.

Very much subject to the increasing extreme weather events predicted by climate-change scientists, it makes sense for organisers of outdoor festivals and events to take a lead in sustainability.

Our customers expect it yet is it still feasible?

In fact the thorough review of operations to identify opportunities to reduce waste and improve resource efficiency, combined with stakeholder engagement in shared objectives are not only the foundation of managing for social and environmental sustainability but are critical to managing for

‘The business case for sustainability has indeed never been clearer and those firms acting now will emerge from recession stronger than ever’ recession, leading to reduced costs and improved competitiveness.

The business case for sustainability has indeed never been clearer and those firms acting now will emerge from recession stronger than ever.

Caroline Coyle is an independent consultant in sustainability and communications for tourism and events.

A perspective from Eton Travel FESTIVALS help to put destinations ‘We work with event on the map and attract visitors.

All too often, however, festival organisers and tourism visitors come and go in a single day, buying most of what they need onoffices to provide site. supporting accommodation Whilst this is good news for on-site caterers and vendors, the local and travel services, community gains little other than congestion on its roads and public including national and transport. international transport for At Eton Travel we believe visitors should be encouraged to stay a little groups and individuals’ longer.

We work with event organisers and tourism offices to provide supporting accommodation and travel services, including national and international transport for groups and individuals.

We can even provide a dedicated online event registration service to help organisers manage visitor flow.

Visitors benefit from seeing more of the area and enjoy the peace of mind

that comes from booking through a reputable and fully-licensed agency.

The local community benefits from greater revenue-generating opportunities and diffused transport congestion.

The organiser benefits from enhanced management information and improved relations with the local community, typically a key component of any policy for sustainability.

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The Virtual Festival is sponsored by Eve Trakway

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Branching out without corporate sponsorship ...

By Christina Eccles ORGANISERS of the Larmer Tree Festival have revealed how the event has flourished despite them steering clear of corporate sponsorship.

The event – which celebrates its 19th birthday this year – has maintained its independent status in a market where it has become increasingly popular for festivals to partner with sponsors – and co-director James Shepard said this has been the right decision.

He said it allows the team to maintain creative control over the festival without being answerable to companies who are providing sponsorship.

He said: “All festivals have to do it their own way – you have to do what is right for you. Not having sponsors gives us the freedom to do what we want to do.”

He told The Main Event that festivals with sponsors could struggle if that sponsorship is withdrawn and the event has relied on the money generated from it.

He added: “I imagine this year it will

be much harder to get sponsors to part with their money when the festivals need it more than ever. If sponsorship is withdrawn and you have relied on it, what happens then?”

James also revealed why the event – which takes place at Larmer Tree Gardens near Salisbury in Wiltshire – has been so successful over the years.

He added that a loyal, repeat following returns to enjoy the festival while using it as a reason to get together with family and friends year on year.

“The festival is a marker in the year when people meet up, get away and spend time with friends and family.

“We pride ourselves on organising a well run festival with great attention to detail. Right from the start we thought it was important for people to try new things so we have over 150 workshops.”

This year the festival is introducing a comedy element and tickets – which have sold out in advance for the last 14 years – are already halfway to selling out again for 2009.

The Larmer Tree Festival

As any shrewd festival organiser knows, planning is the key to a successful event. With over 30 years’ experience in the music and live event industry, there’s little Robertson Taylor haven’t seen. Here are the company’s top five tips for planning your insurance cover.

Sue Moseley, entertainment & special risks manager

The crowd at Bestival

Best five insurance cover tips Top Tip one

Save money, buy cancellation insurance early.

With two years of bad weather, many would say a third is more than a possibility. So do you take the risk or is there another way?

Did you know that the earlier you buy cancellation cover, the greater your savings? Sometimes up to 45 per cent on the cost. Festivals that buy insurance less than one month from the date of the event see the premium increase drastically and some elements of cover restricted.

Top Tip two

Check your venue contract against your

insurance contract.

We know it’s a dull task, but it is an invaluable exercise. Check your venue contract against your insurance contracts to make sure you have the right cover in place.

Unfortunately, venue contracts are not standard. Consequently, it is dangerous to assume your insurance policies will protect you. The liability set out in your contract may be greater than your legal liability. For example, you may be covered for damage to grounds and if this damage is inevitable, it will not be covered under a standard Legal Liability policy.

If you want our help, just get in

touch. We offer a free review service.

Top Tip three

Make sure your motor policy covers your on-site motor vehicles.

Does your motor vehicle insurance cover you when you are driving on private land? Insurers generally only provide cover for road registered vehicles, used in situations where the Road Traffic Act applies.

So motor vehicles used on private land, may not be covered.

Top Tip four

Make sure you have access to an experienced claims service.

Claims from festivals are often complicated because of the different companies and individuals involved.

Experience, therefore, is crucial when handling claims so that the best outcome can be achieved.

Top Tip five

Save Money: Go Green.

Many festivals have already gone green, but for those still looking for a little encouragement, our green discount will continue into 2009.

Simply choose five green options from a list of 16 and we will reduce your insurance premium.

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