The future of UK music festivals Contents

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Summary

In 2019, almost 1,000 music festivals took place across the UK contributing £1.76 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the economy, and enriching the cultural and social lives of more than 5.2 million attendees. The following year, the Covid-19 pandemic forced widespread cancellations, threatening the futures of not only festivals but the freelancers, suppliers and small businesses they rely on, and leaving a hole in the lives of music lovers and makers alike.

Now, two years after they last generated revenue, festivals and their supply chains face the prospect of another lost summer. We warned the Government this would happen at the start of this year. Although exacerbated by uncertainty around the spread of new Covid-19 variants, this situation is a direct result of the Government’s refusal to back insurance for the sector, and failure to accommodate the lead times involved in delivering large-scale events.

Despite hopes that the vaccine programme and lifting of lockdown would partially enable the UK’s cultural calendar to return to its former, vibrant self this summer, the festival industry’s prospects remain uncertain. Few festivals benefited from the Government’s support for the creative industries. Some of those that did have since been forced to cancel due to the lack of insurance. The loss of skilled members of the events workforce and key suppliers will affect this highly seasonal industry’s ability to return at short notice. Following our questioning the Government belatedly recognised the need to pilot the unique nature of a festival in its Events Research Programme, but this effort will be wasted if an insurance solution isn’t introduced prior to 21 June.

A diminution of our world-renowned festival sector would mean more than just reduced tax revenue for the Treasury. Festivals play an important role in communities and can be a significant source of income for local authorities. They provide vital opportunities to earn money and build audiences for our musicians, who will face increased barriers to playing at European festivals as a result of the UK’s deal with the EU.

The impact of the pandemic also provided an opportunity to reflect on how the Government might ensure that, when festivals return, they are better than before. The rapid rise in the number and size of festivals is limiting the effectiveness of their environmental pledges and initiatives. We recommend that the Government and local authorities do more to hold the sector to account on its environmental impacts through licensing. We are also deeply concerned that the risk of drug-related harms at festivals will increase once lockdown is lifted, and call on the Government to remove the legal barriers to drug checking services that provide life-saving information to festival-goers. We also call on the Government to ensure the pandemic does not undermine efforts to improve the secondary ticketing market for consumers.