A celebration of industry excellence

On the back of weeks of endless rain, it’ s a relief to be able to focus on the brighter months ahead, and the countless great outdoor events our industry is in the process of creating from the ground up.

The Event Production Show, on 25-26 February, will highlight and celebrate the leaders in the field, as Excel London is brought to life by a truly remarkable array of live events industry suppliers and service providers. The vast East London venue will once again be transformed into a vibrant platform showcasing groundbreaking technology, game-changing solutions, the launch of pan-industry initiatives and discussions featuring key decision makers from across the live events ecosystem.

Across the panels sessions on EPS’ conference stages; including the Knowledge Hub, The Future Stage, The Other Stage and the Access All Areas Main Stage; the show will offer non-stop knowledge sharing and debate. You’ ll be able to find me overseeing the Main Stage, where there will be no shortage of informative discussions. Many thanks to all the speakers who have agreed to take part.

Among the sessions I’ m particularly looking forward to chairing is The Next Steps for Women ' s Sport, which will explore how women’ s sport is reshaping the delivery of live events. Joining me will be World Rugby’ s head of Women’ s Rugby Atlanta St John, ICC Women ' s T20 World Cup 2026 tournament director Beth Barrett-Wild and More Than Equal’ s Kate Beavan.

Other topics to be tackled on the Main Stage alone include The Tech Transforming Event Experiences, What’ s Next for Sportainment?, Behind The Boom in Stadium Shows, Creativity In Event Production, and Going Mass Market – which will explore the evolution of mass participation events.

To help you make the best use of your time at EPS and navigate the broad offering this year, we have included a show guide in this issue. Turn to page 21 for a full breakdown of the conference content and comprehensive details of who is exhibiting and where you can find them.

Elsewhere in this issue( p. 34), we hear from the bosses of some of Europe’ s biggest and best-known festivals, including Sziget in Hungary, Serbia’ s EXIT, Superbloom in Germany, and Norway’ s Øya Festival. Despite the countless ongoing challenges, including increased political pressure, the events are adapting to change and, in many cases, not just surviving but finding was to thrive.

There is also no shortage of developments at London Marathon Events, which may be considering a name change as a result of its increasingly pan-UK events portfolio, and international expansion aims. On page 18, LME CEO Hugh Brasher outlines its plans in the build-up to the 50th anniversary of the London Marathon.

When it comes to anniversaries, we celebrate two in this issue; senior management at Star Live and the Scottish Event Campus discuss what the landmark moments mean for their businesses.

Enjoy the issue, and I’ ll see you at EPS.

Christopher Barrett, Content Director

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CONTENT DIRECTOR Christopher Barrett

PORTFOLIO DIRECTOR Steve Theivendrarajah

MARKETING MANAGER Gus Agostini

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accessaa. co. uk 5

Access All Areas Spring 2026 | Page 5

A celebration of industry excellence

On the back of weeks of endless rain, it’ s a relief to be able to focus on the brighter months ahead, and the countless great outdoor events our industry is in the process of creating from the ground up.