#127

End of the season?

Today's read ... 7 

minutes

The show went on in Orlando (despite Hurricane Nicole), and our favorite failed festival producer finally reveals his next trick. 

FYRE → PYRTBilly McFarland finally revealed his next project: PYRT, a treasure hunt in his old stomping grounds, Great Exuma, Bahamas. PYRT is also part of a new documentary, After the Fyre, following Billy as he navigates the Fyre Festival fallout and starts this next project.

Six Reasons WhyTour cancelations continue to stack up. Hypebot says there are six main factors driving the increase. Lorde weighs in, adding her take on the "unprecedented level of difficulty” in touring.

This Must Be the Place

This Must Be the Place, a non-profit that distributes free Naloxone kits at festivals, aims to double its efforts in 2023. Co-founders Ingela Travers-Hayward and William Perry started the org in efforts to change the stigma around drug use and treatment and handed out over 10,000 kits at 9 festivals in 2022, including Bonnaroo and Burning Man. Learn more about their efforts and how to bring them to your event at betheplace.org. 

Pent Up DemandTrying to get tickets for Comedian Peter Kay’s comeback tour during both the pre-sale and on-sale this weekend was … laughable? Some reported seeing messages on Ticketmaster indicating there were more than 300,000 people in front of them in line. Due to the demand, Kay’s tour has been expanded twice - from August ‘23 to November ‘24 and now through June ‘25.

#FestivalsWithoutBarriersAttitude is Everything, a live events accessibility charity, teamed up with the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), the Association of Festival Organisers (AFO), and the British Arts Festival Association (BAFA) to help improve the live event experience for disabled fans using the banner #FestivalswWithoutBarriers. Attitude is Everything has produced several resources and partnerships for the 200+ events represented by these organizations.

Wassermans Gets PE Boost Private equity firm Providence invested in Wasserman, expanding its live entertainment portfolio, which already included Superstruct Entertainment Ambassador Theatre Group and Tait (Towers), and Sweetwater. For Wasserman, the investment will help fund growth initiatives and replace funding from exiting investors RedBird and Madrone Capital Partners.

Glastonbury Sells OutDespite price increases and a technical glitch, Glastonbury tickets are sold out for the 2023 fest. The general ticket sale took just over an hour to sell out, while coach and ticket packages sold out in 22 minutes during an earlier sale. Organizer Emily Eavis told fans who missed out that there will be a resale in the spring.

Up, Up, and Away?Glastonbury isn’t the only festival forced to raise ticket prices - organizers around the globe are seeing operating prices (including staff, fuel, etc.) continue to rise, and the only solution seems to be passing the increases along to the customer. Will events survive in this environment? 

Crowd Surges Continue30 fans fainted in a crowd crush during an NCT 127 concert in Indonesia as fans pushed towards the stage, breaking through barricades. The concert was stopped early as a result, and all fans have recovered. This comes just a month after 130 people died in an Indonesian stadium crush and a year after the Astroworld incident. It seems little - if anything - has changed.

Australian Government Chips InNew South Wales Government provides financial support for local councils to take their festivals and events to the next level. The NSW Government is granting 15 councils between $100,000 - $1 million in grants to support 21 different multicultural events.

BearCom is looking for Live Event Managers to support special events nationwide, looking to add team members to support two-way radio deployment and inventory control. Roles are full-time with a complete benefits package, including PTO.

Live Nation Concerts is looking for a Festival Manager to oversee operations, production, customer experience, and more for Country Jam, Headwaters Country Jam, and other Neste Live! events.

 

Newport Festivals Foundation is hiring a Music Education Manager to lead music education, artist relief, and community engagement initiatives.

Do you have more events this year?

OR

Last Week's Results:

New Events and Venues

  • FIFA announced Calvin Harris and Diplo will headline the 2022 FIFA Fan Festival as part of the World Cup in Qatar. Diplo will kick things off on November 22, and Harris will close the event on December 10.

  • Byron Bay Bluesfest expands to Melbourne, with Bluesfest Melbourne taking place April 8-9.

  • Tortuga Festival announced headliners Kenny Chesney, Shania Twain, and Eric Church for its 2023 edition on April 14-16 in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

  • Also in Florida, the Florida Strawberry Festival announced Willie Nelson, Halestorm, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Wayne Newton, and 14 other headliners for its 11-day festival in March.

  • Danny Wimmer Presents’ Sonic Temple Music & Arts Festival will return to Columbus, OH, May 25-28 after a 3-year hiatus.

  • Louisville’s Forecastle Festival joins the list of festivals “taking a pause” in 2023. 

Credit: Fox 35November is typically outside of hurricane season in Florida, but this year Nicole had other plans. The Insomniac crew closely monitored the storm, sending updates to fans and artists leading up to the weekend.

And then, less than 24 hours after Tropical Storm Nicole tore through Tinker Field in Orlando, Florida, EDC Orlando opened its gates, a little shaken up but ready to party. The festival site had some tent, fencing, and signage damage, but the Insomniac crew came together, making a few tweaks to entrances and times, and, miraculously, the show went on as planned.

The Orlando version of the EDM festival was started in 2011 as a 2-day event and expanded to 3 days in 2019. With its pre- and post-festival parties, including a hotel-music festival, Home Bass, EDC Orlando is starting to rival Miami Music Week.

 Holiday Party coming up? BizBash has you covered with activities, gift ideas, and even food and decor ideas to wow your team.

 Have you tried this iPhone markup trick on your screenshots?  Is your WFH office in need of a glow-up? Here’s some inspiration just in time for the slow season.

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