JULY/AUGUST | ME, MYSELF & I
Jon Drape
After working for more than 20 years
in festivals, it is clear that the
whole industry has been trying
to make festivals safer. Our own
shows spend millions on welfare,
medical, child protection,
stewards, and so forth, yet
looking back on a season, there’s
still harm happening. That’s why
I started Festival Safe – a portal
for non-judgemental information
on everything from drugs to
pitching a tent.
Safety, innovation and ticket
sales are discussed by the
managing director, Ground Control
Productions UK
I went to Night Time Industry
Association conference in Berlin,
where I met a representative
from a Dutch campaign called
Celebrate Safe aimed at night
time safety. Everyone was really
positive about it, so I started
to invest money in a similar
idea for festivals. Industry
heavyweights including Melvin
Benn, Jim King and Paul Reed
were very supportive.
Festivalsafe.com now has a host of partners from organisations
in sexual health, police offi cers for crime, fi re chiefs, Samaritans,
etcetera. Drinkaware are supporters, as well as The Loop which
helps with advice on drugs. It’s important to get the tone right. The
most vulnerable are those who have not been to a festival. There’s
resources for parents and children, as well as older visitors.
There’s a constant turnover of festivals, and some real surprises.
I’d have never said there’d be no V Festival, but it’s now gone, along
with T in The Park. The market is open to new ideas, and certainly
this summer is the busiest outdoor season I can remember, and
there are a lot of concert tours too. With Glastonbury taking a fallow
year, it will be very interesting to see how it pans out.
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There’s still relatively strong ticket
sales for festivals this year.
And, while the year often
starts off slow, people see the
change in the weather and
suddenly they can picture
themselves lounging by the
main stage.
There’s new audiences
coming in, and much
innovation and improvement
across the sector.
Audiences have demanded
improvements in everything
from toilets to food and drink.
Five years ago food was still
developing at festivals, but
now there’s Michelin-starred
chefs getting involved, and
so many options appearing.
Everyone’s production is
going up too, and DJs bring
quite signifi cant requirements
with them.
Festivals are getting away from selecting homogenised brands for
drinks. One size does not fi t all. We’re very careful at Broadwick Live
to not treat a festival audience as a group, and any deals we make
must be bespoke to each festival.
The biggest challenge is around security, and for obvious reasons,
the terror threat is very real. People want to feel safe going into green
fi eld or metropolitan areas, and the whole industry must up its game.
One of the biggest areas that needs addressing is the crisis in the
security industry. It has serious issues with staff retention and
recruitment is often poor. A number of shows have not ordered
enough security, and I’ve heard these concerns mirrored across the
board, not just in the UK.