Demand for festivals at an "all time high" this summer

Demand for festivals is at an "all time high" this summer.

Speaking to The Telegraph, a range of industry leaders have given their thoughts on the hopefully positive months ahead for festivals and nightclubs.

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Nick Morgan, who leads festival and events companies We Are The Fair and We Are Placemaking and is a member of the Festival DCMS Public Health England Workforce, said that the interest in festivals and clubs reopening this summer is at an "all time high" which has been "a cautious sigh of relief" for the nighttime and hospitality industries.

Morgan said: “Being one of the only industries that has not been able to trade at all in the last 12 months, a trading season this year is desperately needed. We are all wanting to get back to producing some of the most renowned shows in the world, and the fact that my phone hasn’t stopped ringing since the announcement proves the market is confident and demand from customers is at an all-time high after what has been a tempestuous year for most.”

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Paul Jack, who is behind London's sold-out Junction 2 festival, said that no guidelines about rapid testing, face masks or other pandemic safety measures have not yet been released by the government.

Jack said: “One of the reasons it’s so difficult to do events or plan for events is, how is that event going to operate when there’s so little guidance around it? The idea of facemasks and rapid testing on the way in, these are all things we’re looking at and will consider to be part of the entry process should they be required. But it is dictated by what the government’s guidance is, and at the moment that is simply, ‘Events are going to take place from June 21 – further guidance will be provided’. And you don’t know if your event is going to be 50 per cent capacity, 75, 100 with testing, if you need a vaccine passport – nobody’s actually said anything.”

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Elsewhere, Nick Stevenson, Managing Director of Mixmag, highlighted the importance of nightclubs and live events to the UK's culture and economy. He said: “Clubs in the UK are more than just discos - they are hubs of culture and creativity that have an immeasurably positive knock-on effect to the community and economy that surround them. We might be the last places that get to open, but we're the first place many of us imagine ourselves truly celebrating freedom."

Click here for our guide to which nightclubs are reopening and here for our guide to festivals that are taking place this year.

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