Report: Festivals risk losing another summer unless government support kicks in
Music festivals are looking at another ‘lost summer’, a report has said today, due to the lack of government plans to back insurance for events at risk of cancellation due to Covid-19.
The report, by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee, calls on ministers to offer a safety net for live events that are set to take place after 21 June, suggesting a time-limited insurance scheme.
“It has been made very clear to us that the vast majority of music festivals do not have the financial resilience to cover the costs of another year of late-notice cancellations,” DCMS committee chair, Julian Knight, warned.
“Despite the huge economic and cultural contribution they make, few have benefited from the Culture Recovery Fund, and without our efforts, the sector would have been left out of the pilot events programme on the safe return of audiences.”
Last year, the majority of festivals were cancelled owing to Covid-19 restrictions with sector revenues dropping by 90 per cent, the report found.
Thousands of fans will be able to attend an England cricket test match and Royal Ascot this summer as part of the government’s pilot events programme.
The second test of the men’s series against New Zealand, beginning on 10 June at Edgbaston, will be allowed to welcome more than 18,000 fans each day.
Royal Ascot will be able to host 70,000 spectators, less than 20 per cent of the racecourse’s capacity.
Meanwhile, more than a quarter of festivals with a capacity of over 5,000 this year, including Boomtown in Hampshire and Bluedot in Cheshire, have cancelled for another summer.
‘Freedom day’
The government has decided to wait until after June’s ‘freedom day’ to offer support to festivals, but the report has said that by then, it will be too late for many.
“If the commercial insurance market won’t step in, ministers must, and urgently: events need to know now whether the government will back them, or they simply won’t take place this year,” Knight continued.
MPs have been cautious on whether the government’s current roadmap will mean festivals can open their gates this summer.
The government’s Events Research Programme, which provided positive results initially, has not yet bolstered confidence in MPs who are unsure it will give the evidence needed to give multi-day festivals the go-ahead, the report said.
Only a handful of festivals have benefited from government support for the creative industries, according to the DCMS, with just eight per cent of festivals applying for the first round of the Culture Recovery Fund.
However, only 1.3 per cent were successful in receiving grants. The report added that some that did get the green light from the grants, were then forced to cancel due to the lack of insurance.