Access All Areas June 2020 | Page 5

JUNE | WELCOME Colophon ACTING EDITOR Stuart Wood SALES DIRECTOR James Linin SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Sean Wyatt-Livesle PRODUCTION MANAGER Elizabeth Nixon PUBLISHING DIRECTOR Duncan Siegle JUNIOR NEWS REPORTER Olivia Powell SUBSCRIPTIONS EXECUTIVE Matthew Williams Silver linings PUBLISHED BY MASH MEDIA GROUP Second Floor, Applemarket House, 17 Union Street, Kingston Upon Thames KT1 1RP. Tel: +44 (0)20 8481 11 22 SUBSCRIPTION: Free to qualified readers within UK, Non-qualified readers within UK - £50, Readers in Europe/Eire - £70, Worldwide - £105. SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES: Tel: 020 8481 11 28. Address: Access All Areas, Second Floor, Applemarket House, 17 Union Street, Kingston-upon-Thames KT1 1RP. The opinions expressed by contributors to this publication are not always a reflection of the opinions or the policy of the publishers. Information on services or products contained within editorial sections does not imply recommendation by Access All Areas. No part of this publication can be reproduced in any form without written authority of Mash Media. Subscribe on www.accessaa.co.uk While assembling this month’s Access, I caught myself wistfully scrolling through galleries from previous years of Boomtown. There were photos of exploding fireworks, elaborate costumes and ecstatic crowds. In 2020, it’s almost hard to imagine anyone having that much fun. For comparison, the most exciting thing that happened to me in May was fixing the broken lamp in my living room. Boomtown’s Creative Director Lak Mitchell, who I interviewed on p27, says his team are using the downtime to plan for an even bigger and more creative return – a tantalising prospect in 2021. But what about this year? May felt like the month in which most festival organisers gave up hope of holding their events in 2020. Cancellations and postponements reached the end of August. As AFO’s Steve Heap says on p20: as long as social distancing is on, festivals are off. Or are they? Outside the UK, some countries have reopened their live industry. Estonia’s Tallin Music Week is going ahead in August, as I found out from the organisers on p14. And then there is our cover feature, beginning on p22, where we meet the creative minds planning socially distanced events in 2020. Stay safe, stay positive and enjoy the issue. Stuart Wood, Acting Editor Keep up to date by visiting: accessaa.co.uk @access_aa @access_aa 05