Marmalade’s Post

Cheltenham Festival! Another year has come and gone. It's generally, Christmas aside, my favourite time of year. Cheltenham is buzzing, thousands of people having a great time and enjoying what our beautiful regency town has to offer. This year however, seems to have drummed up more and more questions on why the festival "isn't as good as it was" or "has Cheltenham festival peaked?" and as an business operator, it's always fun to dive into the detail and give my opinion as someone who lives and breathes Cheltenham. Attendances were obviously massively down on previous years. Completely ignoring the obvious elephant in the room (cost of living crisis), how much does one day at Cheltenham Festival cost your average attendee? Let's say, £100 for your ticket, £50 on food, £50 on drinks, £5 for a bus ticket, £50 for your train in and out and then some gambling money. So around £300 for a conservative gambler. Not too bad! However, if you want to stay in Cheltenham you are looking at a minimum of £400 for one hotel room. This isn't because you're booking a luxury room, this would be your bog standard, no iron in the room, maybe a kettle if you're lucky and breakfast is extra. The Cheltenham Festival is super important to the local economy and there are businesses in Cheltenham that rely on the additional revenue opportunities the Festival provides. I assume most people who attend festivals of various forms each year are acutely aware that prices for most things will inflate during these occurrences. A pint for example may cost you £7 instead of the usual £5.50, I think this is expected and considering the monumental amount of effort from the people providing the service throughout the week, it's completely understandable. However, to pay 4 or 5 times the usual rate for something like a hotel room, I feel, is absolutely ridiculous especially in times where people have less expendable income. I live in hope that in 2025 the races will be more competitive, all the big name horses will be there and the experience at the track will be back to the world leading offering that it usually is. Maybe they even do a student discount offer to get more numbers through the gates, but sadly, there will only be local students attending, I don't think most other students would be able to afford any accommodation here. *The picture attached is a screen grab from a reputable hotel comparison website and is accurate as of this morning. This quote was the cheapest hotel available for Tuesday 11th March 2025 and this listing is over 3 miles from Cheltenham Town Centre.

It all begins here! 🌍✨ Day 1 on-site: Festival Development, Feasibility & Location Scouting (aka: getting outside, measuring up, and drawing on maps!) Two weeks ago, amid a busy production schedule, Inhouse Event Productions was proud to provide another in-kind consultation to several incredible charity groups and CICs: @Friends of Elder Park, Gilded Lily CIC, Sunny Govan Community Radio, and @Freed Up. Together, these local organizations have teamed up to curate and fundraise for the Elder Park Community Music Festival. The goal is to launch the first festival in 2025, with plans for it to become an annual, free summer event for the community in Govan. Following our initial consultation, we’ve now been asked to come on board to provide full turnkey event services—including consultation, site design, event management, staffing, production services, and equipment supply (technical installations and site overlay). I won’t bore you with the full list but effectivly we are talking - Community-led, curated, and professionally delivered from start to finish by Inhouse Event Productions. For me, while a lot of the early festival work involves developing concepts, securing partners, and hitting funding targets, the real work begins with the site reconnaissance. This means getting outside with a measuring wheel in hand, assessing the land, and sketching up the first rough plans. For me, these initial measurements are the foundation for everything that follows: creating scaled site models (first 2D, then parts in 3D), and developing a site plan that meets the needs of local licensing authorities. This site survey also helps us identify operational challenges and external factors—everything from layout and traffic management to crowd flow. It’s a crucial first step in understanding what’s possible and how we can align the vision of the event curators with the available budget, but most importantly best serve the local residents that this project is designed for. The early stages are about balancing ambition with affordability, which is where the initial P&L (profit & loss) model comes in. This is our starting point for determining the scale of the event and identifying key funding goals. It’s all about laying the groundwork for a successful, sustainable event that brings the community together, and we’re excited to be a part of this project! It all starts here, with this crappy drawing 🤣 I never claimed to be an artist  

FEST TALK & TIPS For Festival Professionals April 21, 2024 TAKIN' IT TO THE STREETS Last year we talked briefly about making street performers a part of a festival or fair program. I think we should dive a bit deeper into this idea since street performers at an event really can enhance the atmosphere and offer lots of benefits at a reasonable price. Here are ten reasons to include them: Entertainment Value: Street performers can provide lively and diverse entertainment, which can include music, dance, juggling, magic, and more. Their presence adds to the festive atmosphere. Crowd Attraction: Performers can draw larger crowds to the festival or fair, as people are often attracted to live performances and spontaneous acts. Consider placing them in areas with less traffic in order to build a crowd. Enhanced Experience: Street performances can make the event experience more memorable for attendees by offering unexpected moments of fun, photo opportunities and direct engagement. Interactive Opportunities: Many street performers interact directly with the audience, offering participatory experiences that can be especially delightful for children and families. Fill in Gaps: Performers can fill in the downtime between scheduled events or performances, keeping the energy high, holding the crowd and ensuring there's always something happening. Promotes Local Talent: Local artists and performers get a platform to showcase their skills, which can help them build their reputations and followings. Economic Boost: Increased foot traffic generated by performers can lead to higher souvenir sales on-site and sales for vendors and local businesses around the festival or fair area. Flexibility: Whether assigned a specific street corner or strolling the grounds, street performers are typically adaptable and able to perform in various spaces and conditions, which makes them ideal for a festival or fair environment. Visual Appeal: The visual spectacle created by performers, whether through costumes, tricks, or elaborate setups, adds to the allure of the event, making it an even greater opportunity for those special KODAK moments to be shared on social media. Including street performers can be a strategic and effective way to elevate a festival or fair, making it more engaging and enjoyable for everyone involved. Give it a try. TEXAS FESTIVAL & TOURISM CONSULTING Mike Baxter, CFEE 281-222-4775 mike@txfestconsultant.com Former Chairman and long-time member of the Texas Festivals & Events Association, and member of the Texas Association of Fairs & Events. #texasfestivalandtourismconsulting #MikeBaxter #TFEA #TFEA #festivalsoup

Kicking off the year with Skiddle's 5 festival predictions for 2024 💥 ⚡Last minute sales will still be key 👉Sales slow after announcing the line up? Alongside the multiple ways to move that needle, organisers shouldn't worry too much as those last minute sales will always be there. At The Ticket Crowd we see about 30% of total sales in the weeks leading up to the event!) (Shout out to our brand campaigns with 0x ROAS, we see you) ⚡Festival organisers will react to customer habits 👉 With ever increasing competition to how to spend our money over the exciting summer festival season, festival goers are pickier than ever where they choose to buy tickets for. This means organisers have to know what makes their event special, have an insane lineup, and have plenty more included in that ticket than the festival down the road.. ⚡More organisers will offer payment plans and 'pay in 3' features 👉 Ever head of the C word (not Christmas)? Festivals who act like human beings rather than businesses and understand their customers want to have a good time but also need to be able to live the other 363 days of the year. These guys are gamechangers. One of our festivals in 2023 saw 25% of attendees using payment plans. ⚡Sustainability approaches to be more widely used at festivals 👉 In 2023, it was reported that the 02 Arena will host ‘carbon removed’ events in 2024. Some key players in the UK festival scene like Glastonbury, Isle of Wight & Green Gathering are paving the way when it comes to sustainability, from using 100% renewable energy to using turf from the festival site, to generate 950,000kWh of electricity – which is more than 300 households’ annual usage! I love seeing how creative festivals are getting to help the environment. ⚡Fyre festival will fail..again.. 🙈 👉This doesn't need any further context Excited to see how these play out, especially the last one not going to lie! 👀 More info here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eHqM4vjJ

Calling all multi-venue festival organisers in England! 🎶 Association of Independent Festivals have just launched a FREE Multi-Venue Development Programme, funded by Arts Council England, to help festival organisers tackle the challenges of hosting events across multiple locations. It’s not easy running an event in a city or town across multiple venues. From one year to the next buildings come and go and roads open and close. And unlike greenfield festivals you can't build the space as you like to - you're beholden to others whose venues you're hiring. You have to juggle a lot. For example, how do you manage brand partnerships or sponsorships across multiple spaces? 💰 How do you manage important factors such as accessibility and sustainability? ♻️ How do you manage the budget when you're not in control of all the income streams? 🫠 That’s why this programme is designed to help you succeed, no matter the size or style of your festival. If you run a multi-venue festival in England, or know the people behind your favourite multi-venue event, all you need to do is register your interest in this short onboarding form HERE, and they'll get back to you. https://lnkd.in/eN8nRhZk The programme offers: ✅ Peer-to-peer training and roundtables ✅ Tips on PRS licensing for multi-venue events ✅ Solutions for environmental & accessibility challenges ✅ Tailored business support & industry skills development ✅ Guidance on Martyn’s Law (The Protection of Premises Bill) ✅ Funding opportunities for promoters, artists, & industry pros ✅ Ideas for new revenue through accommodation & travel partnerships ...and much more! Let's keep multi-venue festivals thriving.

As many of us get excited about the busy festival season, news like this is very sad to witness and should not be taken lightly. Another festival succumbing to the relentless financial pressures that are causing havoc in the events industry should be a stark reminder of how fragile the sector is at present. The ripple effects of soaring operating costs highlight the urgent need for sustainable solutions. AIF CEO John Rostron says in the article, “The speed of festival casualties in 2024 shows no sign of slowing. We are witnessing the steady erosion of one of the UK’s most successful and culturally significant industries not because of a lack of demand from the public but because of unpredictable, unsustainable supply chain costs and market fluctuations. In asking for a temporary reduction in VAT related to ticket sales, we have provided Government with a considered, targeted and sensible solution, which would save this important sector. We need action now.” The loss of festivals extends beyond entertainment. These events generate significant economic activity, supporting local businesses and providing employment opportunities. Their absence means lost revenue, job losses, and diminished community spirit. The reduction of ticket VAT with the suggested 5% initiative may not be a long-term fix but it will help keep festivals afloat! Actions need to be taken before it's too late. https://lnkd.in/e9ZxP6GC

Do you work in the non-security sector of the live music event world? Do you want to know more about what happens in the pit? We will be running a CPD event to go through the standard security/ crowd management operational procedures for front of stage barrier, more commonly referred to as the pit. Event date: 15/04/24 Time: 10:30 - 14:30 Location: Portsmouth Guildhall, PO1 2AB We have been delivering pit training to security staff for over 12 years, we've realised that this sacred space sometime appears to full of little understood protocols for those that don't directly work there. Some of the topics that will be covered are:- What should a crowd management team be doing? Have you wondered what spotters do? What initial and ongoing safety checks should be carried out? Some of you will be working on sites where a reputable contractor/ supplier will build the barrier system, inspect and sign it off. Some may not have such a formal process. Who is checking that the barrier system stays how it should be until the end of the event? What does safe management look like? What are the pros and cons of different lifting techniques that are commonly taught, to keep your audience (and workers) safe. How crowds differ with different genres? From fairly static mature crowds, to younger livelier audiences, through to the sometimes complex movement of a metal crowd. It's not just about crowd surfers. Bands/ performers (and their Tour Management) from around the world can have quite different expectations from a security/ crowd management team. What impact does event specifics and barrier design have on a pit layout? Considerations from, how many attendees, type of ground the audience are on, or the barrier, the topography of the site, through to anticipated weather. Show stop protocols - Planning for interruptions small and large +++more We will be providing light refreshments The event will get underway at 10:30 so please arrive for 10:15 to grab a drink and a pastry before. The cost of this session is £50, however we have an EARLY BIRD offer - 50% OFF if booked prior to 08/04/24. To book email bookings@invictusprotraining.co.uk, message here on LinkedIn or 07726 480306.

Is your Health and Safety being considered at events? As festivalgoers prepare to pull on their wellies, dig out their sunhats and dust off their tents ahead of another summer of live outdoor events, Safety Management looks behind the scenes at how festival organisers keep the armies of workers tasked with setting everything up safe and well. Festival sites have much in common with construction sites when it comes to physical hazards such as working at height, moving machinery and working outdoors. Or, as Tim Roberts, director of The Event Safety Shop (TESS), puts it: “People falling off things, people falling into holes, vehicles and plant machinery movement, and exposure to the elements outside”. It’s all in the planning The health and safety aspect of music festivals has come a long way since the early days, as a H&S Consultant recalls: “The whole idea of the industry at that time was that health and safety would place restraints on what they did – especially things like working at height. Nobody used a harness or a helmet – it just didn’t exist. If you wanted something done at height, you got somebody to do it. That’s just the way it was.” Fast-forward to the early 1990s when the events industry’s health and safety ‘bible’ – the Purple Guide – was first published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and things began to change. The document provides safety guidance to organisers of outdoor events. The Events Industry Forum took over publication of the Purple Guide in 2012 and it has since been revised and republished. Another big change happened in 2015 when Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (CDM) were applied to the live events industry. “CDM very much brought the attention of the industry because we all knew we built things and that’s a fundamental thing with most events,” says James. “It was a case of, ‘you’re not going to get out of this, so how are we going to make it work for you, and how can we ensure your workers are going to stay safe under these regulations?’” CDM helped to clarify who the duty holders were “in a business where a huge proportion of people at that time were self-employed”. The majority of people working on festivals in the UK, adds James, are freelancers or contracted companies, which adds an extra layer of complication. This means that “tens of thousands of briefings on safety, welfare and facilities” are typically handed out to individual workers before they arrive onsite. Speaking at the SHW Live Manchester show earlier this year, Richard Bate – a vice-president of IOSH who has worked in the events industry for 40 years – stressed the importance of getting to know the relevant people from various contractors working on an event site. Source – britsafe.org #healthandsafety #assurance #safetymanagement

Water festivals, toys and expectations. They tend to be predictable, as these kinds of festivals usually have announcements and fixed dates. Because you would want enough people to turn up to make this a festive celebration. Whether the festival takes place in a water park, at a provincial lake, or as part of a national celebration. And with this kind of mass gathering, there are opportunities. Opportunities to engage, to have fun, but also to make money. Because there will always be markets when people gather in larger numbers, and there will be ways to capitalize on these events. But if you want this to work, sustainably [and in the medium/ long run] you must make sure you have a structure in place. If you have more than a temporary festival stand – meaning, if you want to sell some serious amounts of merchandise (or a service), go to multiple events, or do this on a regular basis, you need a plan. Starting with a decent product, a proper website that links to the right page, a call center with somebody who can speak the language(s) you intend to distribute in, the logistics that are needed for delivery as promised – and all of this of course ideally [well] before the date of the event. Once you have a plan, then you start your [social media] marketing. If the sequence and preparation are off, trust that customers will find other ways to purchase what you are promising/ offering.  Because for this kind of festival, there are likely more stands with similar products, and more virtual stands/ websites selling the products customers look for – a commoditization of water toys if you like. Standardized and interchangeable products always lead to more intense competition. And once you have disappointed your customers, they will likely not come back. Because the frustration of having to deal with the lack of response, translation hurdles, time consuming browsing, misrepresentation of product, and perhaps most annoyingly, a late delivery – it will be a lifelong reminder that you/ your brand broke a promise. Having a plan sounds logical and you’d expect we all know how to prepare, but it is still far too often that short term sellers hope for one hit wonders…. on a regular basis. #festivals #marketing #commodities #hospitality