Christmas and New Year events are cancelled.

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.     

Europe and particularly the UK has been severely hit in December with infection rates increasing at alarming levels resulting in strict lockdowns, border closures and cancellation of any festive season live events. Even previously coronavirus free Asian countries like Thailand (nicknamed Teflon Thailand by some), Cambodia and Vietnam are now seeing their first coronavirus infection increases since May 2020. 

Although the temptation to sneak out to an illegal rave is high anyone involved in the live music event industry (performance artists, event organisers, equipment suppliers and event goers) must take this short-term pain and comply with current restrictions. Aside from being irresponsible behaviour organisers of any underground illegal event faces hefty fines and penalties. The last thing the events industry needs is another tabloid headline about an illegal event being raided by the authorities.

This is yet another frustrating period for anyone working in the events industry and comes just as events were gradually being reintroduced. For anyone sceptical about the effectiveness of strict lockdowns just take a look at the 2-month total lockdown in Melbourne and Victoria several months ago that succeeded in totally eradicating the coronavirus. For the UK it's time for everyone to take this short-term pain and come out in March in a much stronger position to resume live events.

Event organisers should be using this period to refine their planning process for live events taking place later in 2021. It’s a chance to get new coronavirus restrictions organised and introduce contingency plans and explore online streaming services for example. For performance artists it's going to be more of the same unfortunately performing streamed events but, it’s also an opportunity to get creative with new material. Many music festival organisers are currently very busy planning their 2021 festivals because they have missed out on a good six months of planning in 2020 due to ongoing uncertainty. A smart move for those determined to hold their events in 2021 given the usual timeframe of 18 months for a major festival. If music festival organisers have not yet steed their planning for 2021 it is unlikely they will have sufficient time to get everything in place for 2021and will likely have to delay until 2022.

For any live events organisers planning their 2021 events using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need to plan every aspect of their event. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, vendors, volunteers, sponsors guestlists and ticketing. The system is built as a CRM platform enabling all key data to be stored in a secure manner. 

Image by Gustavo Fring via Pexels

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