Music Festival Restart - Contractors.

Some time ago in 2019 and early 2020 music festival organisers would have been booking their contractors and suppliers. Having been relatively dormant for a year, music festival organisers confirming dates for late summer will need to double check with all their suppliers that everything can go ahead with their revised dates.  

One of the biggest concerns will be the number of music festival suppliers and contractors that have survived a year with no business or revenue. Whether its stage backline equipment, power suppliers, portable toilets or stage construction the primary consideration is have the suppliers selected back in 2019 still available. If a sizeable number have gone out of business the competition between festival organisers to obtain the contractors they need may intensify in coming months.

Stage Backline and Power Equipment. 
Considering the prolonged period of lying idle how reliable is stage backline equipment? Even more crucial are power generators that need regular inspection and maintenance. If equipment has been mothballed and placed in storage how quickly can it be retrieved and checked for performance and reliability? Equally of concern is the availability of skilled and experienced technicians that can install any such equipment. For any festival organiser securing the supply of stage backline and power generation equipment should be one of their priority logistics concerns.

Stage Construction. 
If the music festival was going for a bespoke stage design and construction are the skilled construction contractors and rigging suppliers still around? Given the current employment situation finding skilled stage construction workers should not present too many problems but for rigging suppliers it’s worth checking that the companies have survived along with their staff. The training and certification of rigging technicians is not something that can be done quickly, in addition, rigging equipment will need to be checked for safety compliance.

Medical Centre Outsourcing. 
For mobile medical facility suppliers that specialise in live event support it is unlikely they have had any business for the last year and may have switched their operations to coronavirus support. A key aspect for festival organisers to check when confirming their medical facility supplier is the compliance with coronavirus related checks and protocols. This may involve PPE clothing, rapid testing, temperature screening and provision of quarantine procedures for visitors that test positive prior to entry.

When music festivals decide to confirm their dates for August or September it’s not a case of flicking a switch to turn all their logistics back on and pick up where their left off a year ago. Hopefully most festival organisers have retained at least some operation staff who have kept up to date with their contractor status. The key challenge may well be the availability of the contractors and finding alternative suppliers at short notice along with increased prices. 

For any music festival organiser planning to get their event live this summer using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their contractor logistics. 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. 
Image by Ashraf Chemban from Pixabay

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