NEWS
CHINA Tomorrowland debuts in China
Belgian brothers Manu & Michiel Beers have expanded the reach of their Tomorrowland live events empire to China, having staged a two-day event at the new 10,000-capacity Hero Dome in Shanghai. The Magic of Tomorrowland was the festival operator’ s first indoor music show and its inaugural event in China. With two stages, collectively involving more than 1,300 moving lights, 190 speakers and 30 lasers, the event was produced in partnership by Tomorrowland, Hero Esports, INS Land and Budweiser. The production was overseen by a team of 20 Belgian and Dutch specialists covering lighting, video, lasers, audio and SFX. Tomorrowland said its The Magic of Tomorrowland event marks the start of a longterm partnership between its artist agency One World Artists and INS Land, with the shared goal of introducing Chinese artists to global stages while introducing Tomorrowland’ s international talent to China’ s music scene.
THAILAND
Creamfields cancels Bangkok festival
A Calvin Harris-headlined, 50,000-capacity, edition of the Creamfields electronic music festival that was due to take place at Bangkok’ s Impact Exhibition Hall on 13-14 December has been called off. The event is the second Creamfields festival in Asia to be cancelled this year. Organised in partnership with Live Nation Electronic Asia, the event’ s promoters issued a statement in which they said the festival had been cancelled“ due to challenges that prevent us from delivering the experience our fans deserve”. Among the other acts due to perform were Skrillex, Steve Angello and Campelphat. A Hong Kong edition of Creamfields, due to take place in March this year, was cancelled less than three weeks before the event was due to take place.
AUSTRALIA
Government pledges $ 25m to fund festivals
More than 100 music venues and festivals in Australia will receive federal funding from the government to help keep them afloat. The funding is part of Australian prime minister Anthony Alabanese’ s Revive Live program and comes in the wake of several live event cancellations and festival closures in the country. The funding will be distributed to 59 music festivals and 46 live music venues. According to the Australian Government’ s Office for the Arts, the scheme aims to have provided $ 25 million by the end of next year. It said it wants to create“ a sustainable operating environment to increase performance opportunities, and the development and discoverability of original contemporary music by Australian artists.” The intention is to bolster inclusivity, including a commitment to improve career pathways for those with disabilities.
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