HUGH BRASHER : London Marathon race director
What do you believe will be the biggest challenges for the industry in 2022 , and what measures would you like to see taken to tackle them ? Some of the biggest challenges are with people – whether it ’ s an organisation ’ s staff or event-day roles such as volunteers or stewards .
The pandemic has had a huge cultural effect on how people view their lives . It has prompted people to re-assess their lives , whether that ’ s where they live or the jobs they are doing , and retaining that talent pool of staff in an organisation will be a challenge for all companies . But with every downside there is also a potential upside and this will also provide an opportunity to refresh your organisation and bring in new talent . There will also be
KEVIN MOORE Vision Nine festivals director
What will be the biggest challenges for the industry in 2022 ?
Supply chain remains by far the biggest challenge to the festival industry in 2022 , both liquidity of contractors and availability of kit . Festivals need confidence that events will be going ahead in 2022 so that they can pay deposits and get things moving .
After nearly two years of the pandemic , do you believe anything positive has come out of it ?
Absolutely . The pandemic has challenged
the continued challenge of absenteeism caused by Covid-19 , as we have seen most recently with the Omicron variant , and we will need to continue with extra contingency planning for our events .
Then there is the issue and impact inflation will have on the industry . There is talk of a potential 7 % rise in inflation which is something we haven ’ t had for such a long time . A lot of it is driven by the issues of production in factories in Asia being shut down for some length of time and that is still going on .
There are going to be challenges for us all but we can tackle them together . One of the good things to have come out of the past 24 months or so in our sector is the mass participation running events organisers coming together to form the MSO group to help each other get through this . We have never worked like this before . We have shared challenges , given each other alternative routes of supply , reported issues with volunteers and passed on new contacts . We need to continue to do this , to keep lines of communication open and to improve our reporting and sharing .
us to look at things differently – how we plan our shows , how we deliver our shows , how we sell our shows to the consumer . While the challenges have been huge , they have definitely helped to drive innovation at a mirco and macro level .
What are the biggest opportunities for the sector in 2022 and subsequent years ?
Not being able to use red diesel , while a financial challenge , presents a brilliant opportunity for festivals to accelerate their switch to renewable energy sources . Why spend all that extra money on carbonbased fuels when you can invest in renewables ?
JOHN LANGFORD AEG Europe COO
What do you believe will be the biggest challenges for the industry in 2022 , and what measures would you like to see taken to tackle them ? I ’ m afraid that despite the improved outlook on last year , 2022 will still be dominated by the impacts of Covid . The symptoms of this hangover , now all too familiar , include sluggish ticket demand , production / crew health risks , noshows and refunds , routing challenges , venue availability , lack of meaningful government support , and insurance limitations . I am nevertheless confident that as the summer approaches the direct impact of the pandemic on our business will lessen and the situation will gradually improve . Recovery will be slow but steady , and driven by the entrepreneurial spirit and determination that has always been a fundamental pillar of the live music sector .
After nearly two years of the pandemic , from an industry perspective do you believe anything positive has come out of it ? Winston Churchill was right – “ Never waste a good crisis ”. Notwithstanding the huge challenge of the past two years , the sector will recover stronger than ever . I am encouraged by the way we have pulled together across the industry in a coordinated manner to face the challenges – up and down the value chain and arm-in-arm with competitors , we have put the needs of the industry first . We ’ ve recognised the value of the sector , and the power of the live experience which simply cannot be replicated .
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