Access All Areas July/August 2018 | Page 6

This month’s catch up… CBBC Social calls on BBC suppliers for inaugural festival CBBC’s Summer Social has told Access that a plethora of past BBC event suppliers and creatives will boost the festival. CBBC’s Summer Social is billed as a jam-packed, family festival extravaganza, taking place across three days from 3-5 August in Croxteth Park. Festival director Sarah Greene said that the team spent a few years planning the event and looking for a suitable venue, before choosing the Liverpool-based location for its access to major motorways and natural beauty. “I came on-board before Christmas. It’s been very collaborative. CBBC had produced smaller scale events for a few years, and while there’s loads 06 of great family festivals, there was space for another one aimed just at kids. 8-12 year olds are our demographic and we looked carefully at what they are into.” Suppliers at the event include Loudsound, Myers Global and MRL Health and Safety. More key suppliers... • FGH Security • Lles Welfare, led by Yvonne Harding • DbnAudile for Sound and Lighting • Serious Stages, for the provision of the main stage with the backdrop of the estuary • A1, for toilets • JK Ashbrooks, for servicing us from their Bangor/Welsh Depot Artichoke highlights technician shortage, announces Lumiere dates Access can exclusively reveal the dates of the next Lumiere event, as its organiser Artichoke partners with the Gatsby Foundation’s ‘Technicians Make it Happen’ which supports and trains young people in the technical event sector. Lumiere will take place 14-17 November 2019. The UK’s ageing workforce means 50,000 technicians are retiring each year, with the Gatsby Foundation estimating that over 70,000 technicians will be needed in the UK in the next decade to meet the future demand from employers. The signifi cant and increasing demand for skilled technicians means that events or festivals like Lumiere would not be possible without the support of initiatives like Technicians Make it Happen. Harry Ricardo, senior audio visual technician at QED Productions worked on a number of installations at Lumiere 2017: “I spent three years studying at Portsmouth University after school which gave me a good foundation for the way I work now at QED. Team work is a big part of what we do and university helped me to understand how to work with others, both industry professionals, clients, and the public. That being said, there are plenty of people in the industry who didn’t study at university but have learnt their trade from going straight out and getting their hands dirty… we still all work pretty well as part of a team.” Amelia Kosminsky, who is starting out on her career, worked as a production assistant for QED Productions on Lumiere helping to set up the 7 video installations in the festival. “I’ve always had an interest in light and nature, from watching raindrops run along car windows and refracting, through to light rays in a forest. In my early twenties, I began working as a photographer and looking at the use of light, both man made and natural and how we react to it,” she told Access.