With new surges in coronavirus infections throughout Europe and the rest of the world it appears that almost all festive and New Year events are facing cancellation. Although incredibly frustrating for the live events industry it is time to grin and bear it for the next few months to improve the prospects of live vents returning later in 2021.     

In these difficult times it's hard to believe that anyone would consider creating a brand-new UK music festival for the summer of 2021. Using the old Latin proverb ‘Fortune favours the bold’ is perhaps a relevant statement here, creating a new music festival is no mean task and in the current climate certainly risky. 

Whether it’s a large music festival or other smaller event all have some kind of online presence. The events sector is not renowned for their sophisticated websites and have a tendency to be scarcely populated with content, poor usability and navigation perhaps relying on an online reproduction of their event poster. 

The traditional source of revenue for music festivals are ticket sales, vendor pitch fees and sponsorship revenue. It's time that festival organisers got more creative and start looking at additional revenue streams. Creating alternative sources of revenue may help organisers with cash flow and assist in securing their financial survival. 

British music festivals have always had to provide suitable insurance coverage for their events. Festival organisers had a variety of policies to choose from to cover just about any eventuality. When coronavirus hit and festivals were cancelled some insurance companies paid out and others did not. What is likely to happen with insurance products in 2021? 

Since the emergence of Gay Pride events in the late 70s in many of the world's largest cities their popularity has spawned some great new music festivals. From LGBTQ+ friendly festivals a new genre of music festival has emerged in recent years targeted specifically at the LGBTQ+ community.

In response to an industry decimated by the coronavirus pandemic it’s a welcome sign that some of the big technology giants are improving their platforms to help an industry run their events albeit in a virtual environment. Previously used for small meetings or webinars the technology is being leveraged to allow for larger externally focused events. 

The QR Code has been around for years and is an easy way to transfer data making it popular across all business sectors. With the impact of restrictions from coronavirus measures the popularity of the QR Code is rising and could be one of the most useful pieces of technology available to the live events sector in 2021. 

For those living in a town or region with a well-run local council they are probably fortunate enough to benefit from some form of organised local festival or event each year. Each city or local council is tasked with promoting local attractions, businesses and an overall community spirit and holding an annual festival is often a good way of achieving this.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit earlier in 2020 many music festival organisers made the tough decision to postpone their 2020 events until 2021. For event goers and ticket buyers this was a frustrating period because the highlight event of their summer had been taken away. Most ticket holders opted to carry over their tickets to 2021 so constant updates are essential. 

As many music festival organisers around the world announce that they plan to go ahead with music festivals in the summer of 2021 what are the realistic chances for the intrepid traveller looking to travel internationally combining a holiday with attending a music festival in another country?

With artists and musician unable to perform live since early 2020 many are focusing on producing new material. This has led to an increased popularity in music upload platforms as artists try and promote new material to as wide an audience as possible but with so many platforms available which ones are best for artists? 

Entering the world of entertainment and artist management is a tough challenge and widely understood to be one of the most brutal occupations to consider. For event organisers and artist liaison managers the artist's manager can be unreliable and unpredictable but they only see the surface of what is a tough job.   

As the coronavirus pandemic hit earlier in 2020 the entire events and entertainment industry has been one of the hardest hit economically. Staff have been laid off or at best furloughed and continued restrictions on audiences, operating hours and varying financial support from The UK Government mean the outlook for the first half of 2021 is bleak.  

With the events industry in turmoil in 2020 many venues and festivals face financial difficulties and despite financial help from various sources may still be faced with permanent closure. However, for cash rich investors interested in the events sector this represents investment opportunities.

Any event organiser wants to make their event a memorable one and the venue selected can really make a big difference. In reviewing the availability in London there are a surprising number of historic and iconic venues for hire catering for small intimate private parties up to larger scale events.

Every event organiser and venue owner is by now familiar with the restrictions in place for reopening to the public. Although this can be a somewhat moving target it is safe to assume that the criteria for event goers to enter an event will be quite restrictive and require some planning and thought to implement in time for the bulk of events resuming in 2021. 

Given the awareness of modern-day issues being addressed by numerous charitable organisations music festival event goers are increasingly concerned that the event embraces charitable causes. Such is the connection between music festivals and charities that many commercial event organisers have switched from a business to charitable status. 

With many European countries starting to allow event venues to reopen with larger audiences form early 2021 there are many steps that a venue owner should take in preparation of reopening. This is particularly important considering many live event venues have been closed for in excess of eight months. 

As the UK government announced that live events with audiences can resume from 2nd December 2020 how are event organisers geared up to put on events with such short notice? What processes and procedures are in place to gear up for short notice events with ongoing lockdown restrictions likely to be an ongoing threat  

With most of Europe likely to remain in some form of lockdown over the Christmas and New Year period now is the perfect time to start planning your stay-at-home movie fix. Check out some of the classic films and documentaries about music festivals from the last fifty years that will hopefully get you inspired for 2021.   

The music festival sector relies heavily on corporate sponsors to fund their events with the bulk of the global $1.6 billion sponsorship spend coming from alcohol brands. Being so reliant on one sector for sponsorship funding may leave some festival organisers exposed should any unforeseen issues arise from the connection between alcohol and festival goers.      

As the world battles and copes with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic service companies have to adapt to new working practices. Some restrictions like measures to ensure social distancing are voluntary and some are mandatory. Part of the solution will be cashless payments and contactless ordering of food and drinks.

There is so much uncertainty in the live music events industry for 2021. Nobody knows for sure when a coronavirus vaccine will be available, how it will be rolled out and how effective it may be. Combine this with unknown levels of restrictions placed on holding events by government organisations and the future is far from clear. 

With the current pandemic having a dire effect on all music venues in the UK the warnings voiced by those in the industry seem to be falling on deaf ears. History shows that once a venue closes it rarely resurfaces and can be lost forever. Here are a few reminders of famous British music venues lost but not forgotten.

Every music festival provides opportunities for food and beverage vendors usually providing a wide range to suit different tastes and budgets. Pitches are generally oversubscribed and festival organisers can select the most suitable. However, what are the opportunities for non-food and beverage vendors at music festivals? 

Surely one of the attractions of attending any music festival is the experience of the mosh pit. That small area in front of the stage for hard core event goers keen to dance and party hard all day and all night. With proposed restrictions likely as festivals return in 2021 what does the future hold for the music festival mosh pit?

Most participants in music festivals will generally need to make an application, specifically artists, vendors and volunteers. Festival organisers should be organising their application forms and processes at an early stage in the planning process. Having a consistent approach to the application forms used helps to create an efficient event planning process   

A key consideration for the success of any performance artist is how they promote and market themselves to a wider audience. An essential part of this process is having a professional biography package of materials and having these at hand and available immediately on demand is essential. 

Any large music festival will have someone responsible for curating the content, they may have a wide range of job titles but the essence of a festival curator is to source and produce content that fits with the festival themes, genre and overall ethos. It’s a specialist role that requires a unique skill set, so what exactly does a festival curator do?