ANNIVERSARY FEATURE
Left to right : On site at Eastern Electrics , Goldie at Mostly Jazz Festival
seen as a driver of operations in terms of leadership on health and safety , and also production . We are taking it very seriously , and making good inroads .”
Ideal approach While the sky is the limit in terms of ambition , The Fair ’ s directors are keeping their feet on the ground and not only campaigning to gain support for the independent festival industry at home in Britain but also offering one-on-one guidance to other event professionals .
Among its industry-wide initiatives have been the documentary It Takes A Village , a behind-the-scenes film that provides an insight into the work that goes into staging festivals , while highlighting the many challenges involved , such as increasing supply chain costs and why the events sector deserves further support .
It has also been behind the Your Festival Needs You campaign . Launched earlier this year , it invites people from across the events industry and beyond to
speak out about the value of festivals , and why it is important that people continue to support them .
The move follows the cancelation of around 40 UK festivals this year , and the Association of Independent Festivals predicting that 100 of the nation ’ s festivals could disappear in 2024 if the government fails to support the sector .
Says Morgan , “ Too many organisations are banging the drum to the consumer media about festivals failing , and that is not helpful because why would consumers who have never been shorter of disposable income then want to outlay £ 100 or £ 200 on a show that may not happen ? That ’ s why we came up with Your Festival Needs You , which is more about saying , ‘ if you love shows get on board , buy tickets , talk about it in positive way ’.”
The Fair ’ s team is not just focused on talking in a positive way to the wider industry via campaigns , in March last year it launched a one-to-one advice line providing new promoters and other fledgling event professionals with free guidance on how to progress their career in the festival and events industry .
Galletti says the advice line was created with the aim of encouraging fresh talent to join the industry and see festival work as a real career choice : “ I know how hard it can be to get your foot in the door , which is why I want to ensure the next generation of talent have more resources available , and a friendly face to talk to .
“ Among The Fair ’ s core values as a company has always been helping develop young talent in the industry and giving opportunities to people in the agency to develop . That ’ s a big passion of mine , and Nick and Rob are very focused on it .”
Says Dudley , “ We ’ re proud of the policies that we ’ ve got in place to develop staff and to keep them with us so that not only do we grow , they grow as well . That is reflected in the staff retention that we ’ ve seen . We really appreciate all of the skills , knowledge and expertise and hard work that they bring to the table to deliver the events and to keep driving the business forward .” accessaa . co . uk 39