A few of our favourite festivals

We all love a good festival, whether that be music, food, arts or otherwise. We’ve seen our fair share of fantastic festivals over the years in both glorious sunshine and pouring rain, and we’ve certainly missed attending them.

After cancellations across the board in 2020 due to the pandemic, we had all hoped for a return to normal this summer, none more so than the entertainment and events industries. The government decision for restrictions to end on 19 July was music to our ears, but unfortunately it was too late for many of this summer’s festivals, and some have found insurance and other challenges too insurmountable for this season. We are delighted to see that some festivals are managing to run again this summer and are looking forward to a return to the full festival season next summer.

We decided to take this opportunity to look back at the festivals we’ve provided our Saddlespan event tents for over the years, and to celebrate some of our team’s personal favourites.

 

WOMAD festival imageWOMAD

More than just a festival, WOMAD is an experience, bringing music, workshops and cuisine from around the world all to a little corner of Wiltshire. The festival is inclusive in every way possible and that is part of why we love it, as well as its commitment to the environment. We’ve provided the event tent for what our team think is the best part of the festival ‘Molly’s Bar’ named after a beloved dog. A few of our team are very disappointed that WOMAD won’t be running again this year, as they like to attend with their own families – only once our Saddlespan stage covers are all in place of course!

 

Creamfields festival image

Creamfields

This huge festival is the biggest electronic dance music (EDM) festival in the UK and is always an exciting event to be a part of. The Creamfields festival brings the biggest names in EDM to Cheshire for a four-day event over the August bank holiday, with 70,000 people attending each day. For a number of years, we have provided two saddlespan tents for the VIP area for the festival. We are delighted that this festival is due to go ahead this year.

 

Latitude festival image

Latitude

A family-friendly festival set at Henham Park, in the Suffolk countryside, Latitude is a definite favourite of a few of our team. With a range of entertainment from top musicians to poetry, dance to comedy, art to theatre, there is something for everyone and all the family. We’re proud to have supplied our Saddlespan event tents to house the Lake Stage for the last several years, which has played host to the likes of Wolf Alice and Clean Bandit.

 

Electric Castle festival image

Electric Castle – Romania

Set against the backdrop of the 15th Century Banffy Castle in Transylvania, Romania, Electric Castle is an exciting festival, that brings an eclectic mix of music, technology and alternative arts. What truly makes the festival unique is that organisers donate a percentage of the profits from ticket sales towards the restoration of the historic castle. So far this has helped restore the roof and build flooring. We first supplied our Saddlespan tents to the festival in 2018, where it housed the festival food hall, which boasts an impressive variety of cuisines and even fine dining options.

If you are lucky enough to be attending a festival this year, we hope you have a fantastic time. And if you are an event organiser planning a festival for autumn or next year, then get in touch with us if you need to get it covered!


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Live events reinsurance – does the Government’s new scheme go far enough?

The events and entertainment industries have been hit hard by the COVID 19 pandemic. Events were postponed or cancelled, causing some venues to shut down for good, and many staff losing their jobs despite the furlough scheme, as companies couldn’t keep afloat. The government announcement on 19 July 2021 that the legal restrictions were over was music to the ears of all those in the entertainment and events industries, finally a chance to start the long road to recovery after the challenge of the previous 16 months. Many live events have since returned, festivals are going ahead, theatres can fill their seats, and musicians are returning to stages. However, the situation isn’t as rosy as you might think.

After a year of financially crippling restrictions and forced cancellations, live event and festival organisers are not in the position to take a gamble to get their events back up and running, so great insurance coverage is more critical than ever. Insurance problems have been cited by a number of festivals as the reason for them not going ahead this year. The launch of the new government scheme to help encourage insurers to cover live events is exactly what is needed. The government are stepping in to act as a reinsurer, meaning events can go ahead with the reassurance that pay-outs are guaranteed to be funded if events have to be cancelled due to COVID.

While this is great news and a really positive step towards getting the sector back on its feet, the devil is in the detail. When you take a look at the fine print, the reinsurance is only valid if the event is cancelled due to another lockdown, not if the event is not feasible due to other COVID related restrictions. This could prove problematic as it seems more likely that there would be a reintroduction of restrictions, such as social distancing, rather than a full lockdown given how far we have come with vaccinations and the low number of hospitalisations due to COVID. Meaning that the reinsurance is not much of a guarantee to events organisers, who could still be at risk of losing out if social distancing restrictions were to be reintroduced. So, although this is an important and valuable step from the government to help get events going again, we aren’t sure that is it enough to give the sector the confidence boost it needs right now. If the government want their scheme to really boost the sector, they need to expand it to cover reintroduction of other COVID related restrictions that would affect the industry.

But the last year has brought out the pessimist in most of us, with massive changes to our daily lives and challenges to our livelihoods, but maybe now it’s time for us to be optimistic? Here’s to hoping that 2022 will be a year full of live events and festivals which gets the industry well and truly back on its feet!


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