UK festival and outdoor events industry 'on brink of permanent demise' without government support, leading body warns

The UK festival and events industry is “on the brink of permanent demise”, with more than half of businesses unable to make the end of 2020 without government support, a leading industry body has warned.

The report, published by the National Outdoor Events Association (NOEA), claimed that of the 480 events businesses surveyed, the average loss during the pandemic currently stands at £539,431.

The festival industry has been wiped out in the face of the Covid-19 outbreak, with events such as Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, Download and countless others forced to abandon their summer plans.

More than 65 per cent of companies surveyed by the NOEA are planning redundancies, even though three quarters of them have used the government’s furlough scheme. The UK outdoor events industry presently employs more than 589,000 people.

And while 65 per cent of organisers have applied for government grants, 80 per cent of them are yet to receive anything.

It means that 51 per cent of surveyed businesses will be unable to see out the rest of the year, unless they are given financial support.

“These events are one pay cheque away from going out of business,” said Tom Clements, president of the NOEA. “If they can get them, government grants will get businesses through the next few months, but without any confidence on a September return, the vast portion of the festival season will be gone or at best stagnant until March/April next year.”

Clements added: “If there are no events, these companies will desperately need more financial support. If not, they will go out of business. Creating events brands is difficult. To produce the next Reading, Leeds or TRNSMT takes years as well as a genuine incentive to do so. If these events go, they won’t be coming back any time soon.”

The NOEA has thrown its support behind The Full Capacity plan, laid out by Festival Republic’s Melvin Benn, which proposes to run festivals without social distancing, provided each attendee tests negative for the virus before entry.

Clements said: “We’re 100% behind these proposals, it allows events to be a solution, not a threat, and a chance to kickstart our industry and save some of the outstanding businesses that are currently at risk.”