Tom Clements , an industry veteran who is president of the National Outdoor Events Association ( NOEA ) and director of Glasgow-based Specialized Security , says that despite the many challenges he is delighted with the way the industry is fighting back after such a long and painful period of inaction .
“ The outdoor events industry up here is without doubt moving on with things ,” he says . “ We do a lot of wonderful events , we have no shortage of beautiful settings for a wide range of shows that attract huge crowds ; from major music festivals to events such as The Open and Royal Highland Show .”
Promoting success
One of the clearest signs that Scotland ’ s events industry is back with a bang is the workload the team at Glasgow-based DF Concerts is handling . Scotland ’ s leading concert and festival promoter , Live Nationowned DF Concerts , is working on 33 outdoor shows this summer , including nine stadium concerts . It is a record for the company that was founded in 1982 by Stuart Clumpas , and it is estimated that the promoter ’ s summer shows alone will have a £ 72.4 million economic impact in Scotland . Including indoor and outdoor shows , DF ’ s events will
The SSE Hydro
“ We have stood by our events , some have had very tough times and we have continued to fund them .”
– Paul Bush
host 1 million ticketholders over the summer , 800,000 of them in Glasgow . By the end of the summer , the promoter will have staged 15 major outdoor shows in Glasgow alone , including the 50,000-capacity TRNSMT festival on Glasgow Green , concerts by acts including Green Day at Bellahouston Park , and six huge gigs at Hampden Park ( cap . 58,000 ). Glasgow is one of the key live music markets in the UK , with an impressive musical heritage that includes Gerry Cinnamon , Simple Minds , Primal Scream , Texas , Lewis Capaldi , Teenage Fanclub , and Belle and Sebastian .
DF owns Glasgow ’ s renowned King Tut ’ s Wah Wah Hut ( 300 ) and is a prominent player across the city
at venues big and small , but its work stretches throughout Scotland . In Edinburgh this summer it is working on the revived Connect Music Festival ( 15,000 ), which will take place from 26-28 August at the Royal Highland Centre . In June it launched a new series of Big Top shows at the same venue , and in August it has the Summer Sessions at Princes Street Gardens with shows by acts including Tom Jones and Simple Minds .
DF ’ s extraordinary spread of outdoor events is far from limited to Scotland ’ s two main cities ; among its many shows further north have been two dates by The Killers at Falkirk Stadium and , in June , it launched the Summer Sessions in Dundee ’ s Slessor Gardens . “ We are all very tired
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