Every touring band or musician has traditionally used roadies to transport their equipment from gig to gig along with set up and problem solving. These unsung heroes who make the behind-the-scenes logistics operate like clockwork still exist but their role has been changing over time. Are roadies still relevant in the modern era of touring artists and music festival appearances?             

As the popularity of music festivals has increased broadcasters have made efforts to get a piece of the action to increase their audience numbers. With the largest and best music festivals often being sold out well in advance watching a live streamed event on a commercial TV channel is appealing to a large number of people.       

Having a theme for any festival can contribute to the event’s branding and promotional opportunities as well as keeping an annual event fresh each year. The theme selected can be just about anything but it should form part of that festival's identity and appeal to festival-goers as well as contributing to what the festival organisers believe in. 

A great party city can mean different things to different people but there are some cities that can be categorised firmly as party destinations. Every large city has some nightlife but can be restrictive in choice and operating hours with a focus on catering for local residents and occasional visitors and therefore probably can't be considered as ‘party’ destinations.           

There are some summer destinations that have a reputation for the best beach parties that can go on for weeks or last the entire summer season. What are the best picks for those keen to spend a few weeks partying in some of the world's most legendary beach party destinations once international travel fully opens up again?

The size of a festival may determine the level of detail in any terms and conditions an organiser imposes on vendors. What are the usual terms that festival organisers should insist a vendor agrees to and equally what should vendors consider when applying for a pitch at a festival before committing to a booking.

Festivals that use remote sites with large capacities have always provided ample on-site parking for festival-goers. With growing concerns over personal car use how are festival organisers managing parking logistics to achieve a balance of providing sufficient parking facilities against their environmental sustainability objectives. 

An often-overlooked aspect of music festival planning is noise management. The amount of noise pollution generated by a music festival is covered by a complex array of rules, regulations and codes of practice. For most organisers this is something best left to external specialist consultants but for those interested this is what the requirements cover for events taking place in the UK. 

Many music festivals promote themselves as family friendly and this can be a big draw for potential festival-goers who have children. Organisers of festivals that allow children on-site should create and make publicly available their policy on children attending the festival and measures in place to ensure child safety. 

Some of the largest music festivals attract hundreds of thousands of festival-goers and it is therefore inevitable that a large number of personal possessions go missing. Organisers of these large-scale events should have a lost and found policy in place along with slick processes and procedures for managing the potential volume of lost items and festival-goer enquiries.

On the 5th August 2021 the British government announced that they will be providing funds for insurers to offer COVID-19 related cancellation insurance to event organisers. This is a long overdue but welcome move in the UK, it has perhaps come too late to save some festivals unfortunately. What are the key points in this announcement pertinent to festival organisers. 

A large music festival attracting over 100,000 festival-goers with 50 stages and 200 artists will require a mind-numbing amount of equipment. The efficiency and management of the shipping logistics for a festival are critical to its success so what steps do festival organisers take ensure everything happens as planned.

Despite vast improvements in logistics planning thanks to advances in technology some festival owners still get it wrong. Perhaps there can be unforeseen circumstances that lead to problems but in the modern age festival organisers should now really be producing slick events resulting in great customer satisfaction. 

When a large music festival takes place over three or four days with over 50,00 festival-goers crammed into a festival site it's going to attract unwelcome pests. The country and climate of a music festival may well determine the types of pests that need consideration by festival organisers in dealing with any potential problems.

With meticulous planning months in advance the last thing any music festival organiser wants is a performance artist that goes AWOL (Absent Without Leave) hours or minutes before their scheduled set. Unfortunately, it does happen so what can festival organisers do to mitigate such circumstances occurring. 

2021 has been a mixed year for music festivals around the world with many cancellations yet a reasonable number of big-name festivals have managed to go ahead. Festival season for next year is starting to look promising and numerous organisers are planning for 2022 as an opportunity to re-launch their events. 

Every large music festival will normally have a selection of international performance artists but since the coronavirus pandemic international travel has been problematic. For music festivals with international performance artists confirmed or tentatively booked what are the travel logistics that need to be considered for festivals taking place in the summer this year. 

There has been a shift in the last five years towards use of technology by music festival organisers and this rapid change is gathering pace. What are festival organisers doing to take advantage of these changes that will make their festival more efficient, profitable and safer for festival goers for the future.   

Sponsorship funding is a key part of every music festival and without sponsors any music festival will struggle to cover their costs let alone make a profit. Having the right sponsorship strategy in place can make the difference to an event’s success but what steps can organisers take to secure those all-important deals. 

With the festival sector coming back to life in the UK and other recovering countries around the world the demand for festival staff is gradually picking up again. It has been a catastrophic 18 months for anyone working in the festival business but what new opportunities are there for employment going forwards and what are the trending occupations in demand.