MAY | COVER FEATURE
an incorrect bet could mean going
out of business, it is also true that
there will be an enormous demand for
outdoor events once lockdown is over.
Those who can think of safe, creative
ways of operating (and, crucially, who
can communicate that safety to their
audience) could be in for a windfall.
EVERGREEN
EVENT S
he outdoor events industry is walking a
tightrope. Across the world, organisers
are looking nervously at their
calendars, trying to decide between
postponing and cancelling their events
as the Covid-19 lockdown continues.
Some European governments
have taken the decision out of the
hands of the industry. In Germany,
Denmark and Belgium, summer has
effectively been cancelled with all mass
gatherings banned until 31 August. By
the time you read this, there is a strong
possibility that other countries will
have joined them.
In the face of such uncertainty,
organisers have taken a variety of
approaches. Some were quick to act,
postponing to the end of what we
typically call the festival season (see
‘Delayed gratification’, p19-20). Some
cut their losses and cancelled (see
‘Anatomy of’, p8-9). Others embraced
the uncertainty, and took a bold leap
into the world of virtual events (see
‘Full screen ahead’, p30-31).
News is moving so quickly that it is
hard to predict which of these solutions
will be the right one. While it is
understandable that many companies
are erring on the side of caution when
24
The seismic shifts that have happened
in the event calendar are also raising
another question: do we need to
rethink the concept of the festival
season in 2020? Assuming things go
ahead as currently planned, we are
looking at a bottleneck of major events
in late August, September and October
– well past what we typically think of
as the festival season.
In fact, the festival industry’s
seasonal nature is one of the reasons
why it is currently at such risk. Nick
Morgan, CEO of We Are The Fair,
points out that “once sanctions are
lifted, many UK businesses should see
some return of sales and procurement,
in a shorter cycle than the outdoor
industry. If the season is missed, it
might be eight to nine months before
suppliers can legitimately bill advances
and deposits for 2021.”
Missing an entire season could be
fatal for businesses that are less nimble
and reactive, or which are heavily
Tomorrowland 2019
weighted towards summer events.
Tom Critchley, Managing Director
of accommodation supplier Caboose
& Co, sounds a similar warning.
“Sadly, I think a significant number [of
companies] will go bust,” he says. “We
have a lot of small companies in our
industry who rely solely on the summer
season and having already lost half
the summer months, revenue versus
costs will not stack up. The companies
that are still nimble and lean, and who
haven’t made any huge investments
this year, will be the lucky ones.”
Businesses will need to be more
resilient, and more flexible, in order
to survive the Covid-19 crisis. That
could mean stretching their services
thinner over the whole year, as opposed
to concentrating the majority of their
business between May and August.
This is a process that has already been
taking place across the outdoor events
industry, according to the National
Outdoor Events Association (NOEA).
NOEA Chairman Tom Vrements
says: “It’s true that, for some time,
the outdoor events industry has
been patting itself on the back for
lengthening the events season. We’ve
long lobbied ourselves to create more
winter events, and [the season] now
runs from April to October, with a jump
in November and December.
“But let’s not kid ourselves either - for
many businesses, especially the smaller
ones, up to 90% of their income will
come between June and September.