Morgan says that large construction projects such as HS2 are hoovering up kit including trackway , but the scale of the We Are The Fair operation means that it is in a much stronger position than a lone event .
“ If you ’ ve got your own show there is less leverage with suppliers , whereas we ’ re involved in more than 100 shows so there is great incentive for suppliers to support us .”
Rogue City Productions is due to debut the Out East Festival on 6-7 August . Scottish events guidance states that from early June , outdoor events will be able to accommodate 1,000 people , and by the end of the month 2,000 , but what the situation will be in August is still the big unknown .
Company MD Shane Grieve says , “ We are working with the Scottish Government to push for more guidance . It ’ s obviously difficult for us as a new festival because we ’ re still building the customer base and the brand . We are going to have to make the call about the festival in mid-June .”
Having worked on live-streamed shows that involved a “ decent ” level of production during lockdown , Grieve has already felt the impact of the pandemic on the supply chain .
“ It wasn ’ t easy , the equipment was available because there were not that many events taking place but we had a difficult time getting crew because people had had to take other jobs to make ends meet ,” he says . “ We are used to working with group of guys but they weren ’ t all available , and the job is always more difficult if you ’ re bringing someone new into the fold .”
Grieve also found experienced crew members took time to get into their stride : “ People were rusty , including myself , so thing took longer . People are used to , especially over summer , going from one gig to the next – working around the clock – and they could usually do the job with their eyes closed ,
but when they ’ re working for Amazon seven days a week , coming onto a job – of course they are going to be a bit rusty .”
Grieve says he is also expecting equipment shortages to be an issue this summer , particularly later in the year : “ It might not all be a shortage of technical equipment . I know , for instance , you can ’ t hire a ticket office – they are all out in August being used for Covid testing centres – and there ’ s a severe lack of kit such as marquees in some areas .
Engine No . 4 director Jon Drape has found that even long-term suppliers of equipment have been unable to fulfil orders this year and the company is having to be flexible and find alternative solutions . “ It might well be that things don ’ t look the same at some of our festival this year . We may have to take steps such as dividing marquees up for offices and dressing rooms rather than using portable cabins , but our industry is used to adapting and dealing with challenges , and at the moment there isn ’ t a supply chain problem we haven ’ t been able to overcome .”
Season of change NoNonsense Group director Liz Madden says there are always difficult weekends
Jon Drape Liz Madden Shane Grieve
during the summer when equipment is in high demand for events , such as Glastonbury , but the situation has been further compounded this year as the season has been compressed into fewer months as events operators try to give themselves the best chance of being able to go ahead by moving to the tail end of the season .
Mogan says that whereas September has traditionally been the end of the season , it is the height of the season this year .
“ We ’ ve got shows going out in the last week of September . There are concerns , you have Parklife with an 80,000 capacity and that obviously does take a lot of inventory , but if some festivals cancel the supply issue will look very different .”
“ It would be very naive for anyone to expect that we ’ re just going to go from this huge raft of restrictions to having nothing in place .”
Jon Drape , Engine No . 4
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