Access All Areas Winter 2024 | Page 24

FESTIVAL LAUNCHES

Festival debuts - ground for optimism ?

It ’ s been a tough few years for festivals but , despite the ongoing challenges , 2025 is set to see some impressive new concepts come to life . Access hears why organisers feel next year is a good time to launch a new festival
CHRISTOPHER BARRETT

With an estimated 204 festivals having disappeared since 2019 , according to Association of Independent Festivals research , it ’ s encouraging to see big plans being made for major festival launches across the UK , with intrepid independent operators also making a comeback .

Among the many large-scale festival launches planned for 2025 are TEG ’ s 70,000-capacity Come Together in Newcastle and AEG Presents ’ 35,000-capacity LIDO Festival in London ’ s Victoria Park , while Cuffe and Taylor is planning a new 35,000-capacity Blackweir Live show series in Cardiff ’ s Blackweir Fields and Chelmsford City Live ; a four-day festival at Chelmsford City Racecourse in July that will feature headliners including Justin Timberlake and Olly Murs .
Billed as the “ largest outdoor music event the North East has ever seen ”, the Come Together festival will debut on 4-8 June at Newcastle ’ s Town Moor , with Robbie Williams and Kings of Leon being the first headliners to be announced . The goal is to sell around 50,000 tickets in the first year .
TEG Europe , the UK arm of Sydneybased live entertainment company TEG , is overseeing the delivery of the event in partnership with the City Council and conservation body The Freemen of Newcastle , which manages the Moor .
Toby Leighton-Pope was appointed TEG Europe ’ s MD shortly after it was launched in 2022 . For Come Together he has appointed Far And Beyond ( FAB ) to oversee the event ’ s production , which will see him reunited with FAB ’ s Jess Shields and John Probyn who he worked alongside at Live Nation .
Leighton-Pope says Come Together is an opportunity to present a multigenre event with top-tier talent at a remarkable greenfield site in the heart of a city whose inhabitants are renowned for their appetite for live entertainment : “ Newcastle is starved
24 accessaa . co . uk