AAA White Paper The political economy of informal events, 2030 | страница 15

games, fashion, flowers, food and those performing arts that lie
beyond music.
Mass events at large, dedicated venues such as stadia will
remain a key part of wealth creation and culture in 2030. But
informal events – outdoor in the city or countryside, indoor in
the day and particularly at night – will play a bigger role than in
the past. To audiences, local authorities and local business, and to
public discussion, informal events in 2030 promise to bring more
maturity, more spending, more excitement and, yes, more debate.
Why? Already, some of what we see in the media or on social
media is held to be fake news. By 2030, then, it’s likely that still
more of everyday experience will be thought untrustworthy or
even illegitimate. That, however, is only another way of saying that
authenticity will be highly prized. And this demand for authenticity augurs
well for informal events.
Informal events are mostly organised not by global corporations,
but by independent and often innovative small and medium
enterprises (SMEs): firms with fewer than 250 employees and a
turnover of less than €50m. So the current and future demand
for authenticity in British life should boost the prospects of both
informal events, and the SMEs that organise them. Indeed, the rise
of fake news could open up real opportunities for SMEs active in
informal events. For at such occasions, the typical attendee comes,
to quote John Lennon, because ‘All I want is the truth’.
At the same time, however, the very informality of live events,
and their natural association with alcohol and occasional
misbehaviour, could prompt growing concerns.
This White Paper understands those concerns. They have
surrounded everything from Jamaican ‘bashment’ music in a Croydon
bar, through a school sports day in Manchester, to London’s Wireless
festival, an annual three-day hip-hop and R&B event. However, this
White Paper also insists that concerns about informal events be well
founded; for the facts suggest that the current incidence of crime and
terrorism at informal events in the UK is pretty small.
Event safety and security should be subject to judicious and
proportionate regulation. Yet informal events will not boom in 2030
if they’re still confined by the formalities of the Licensing Act 2003.
Britain urgently now needs better partnership, clarity and
consistency in the events licensing process – and better education
about that process, too. In particular, future assessments of the
risks surrounding events should fully consider both the immediate
and the long-term benefits of letting them go ahead.
15