What Format of Live Events will be the First to Restart in 2021.

As the whole events industry braces itself for another tough year that seems to be a continuation from 2020 which are the types of events likely to start first? From music festivals and indoor gigs to business conferences and exhibitions what are the likely timelines for reopening in 2021. 

Each event industry niche has come to terms with complete shutdowns of the industry in different ways. It also depends which country and continent that business operates in as to how the coronavirus pandemic is being dealt with.

Business Events. 
The thousands of business conferences and exhibitions were some of the first to move their operations to online and virtual platforms. Most event organisers and their visitors were already using the technology required on a regular basis so adoption of the virtual conference has been relatively straightforward. For 2021 and into the future virtual business events will continue with face-to-face events possibly not returning until 2022.

Gigs and Tours at Indoor Venues. 
Unfortunately, performance artists that are planning gigs and tours at indoor venues the wait is likely to be a long one. Indoor venues are likely to be amongst the last establishments to be allowed to open. Artists have been embracing the virtual performance format but it is hardly a substitute for a live performance and fans and audiences have been slow to adopt this technology with barriers to paying so earning any revenue has been challenging.

Music Festivals. 
For live events form a variety of performance artists the music festival format is likely to be one of the first formats to open up. The outside environment makes it easier to control social distancing requirements and infection risks are much reduced. The largest festivals however have struggled to get their events together quickly as the planning process can take in excess of 18 months, Glastonbury being an example of a festival that is just too large to put on quickly. Expect the smaller independent festivals to go ahead with shorter planning cycles they can react faster to date changes.

Geographic Considerations.
What will be allowed and when is really being determined by the geography of the event. In New Zealand and Australia their coronavirus containment has been reasonably successful and they are now allowing music festivals and indoor concerts to go ahead. There are a few other regions and countries that have also been successful with COVID-19 containment with events proceeding in selected Asian and Middle East countries. For most of Europe and the Americas it’s currently looking quite bleak, but there are signs of life in the music festival sector with many organisers keen to go ahead from June 2021 onwards. 

For any live event 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, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors guestlists and ticketing. 

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