MPs are to examine how UK music festivals can survive in 2021 after the coronavirus pandemic wiped out a majority of festivals this year, resulting in revenues falling by 90%.
A new inquiry organised by a Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee will consider how the government can support music festivals next year as legal and social-distancing requirements determine the viability of large-scale events.
Committee chair MP Julian Knight said: “We have so many legendary festivals that have given the UK a worldwide reputation – it would be devastating if they were unable to come back with a bang, or if smaller festivals that underpin the talent pipeline disappear entirely.”
Despite no confirmation of when large events will be permitted, many UK festivals are still planning for 2021: Stormzy and Liam Gallagher will headline next year’s Reading and Leeds festivals; Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis has said she hopes the festival will return in June. Wales’s Green Man festival has said it would consider temperature checks on entry. News of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine breakthrough may provide a clearer path to festivals reviving next summer.
The committee seeks written contributions from festival staff, fans, musicians, local communities, suppliers and the vast freelance workforce affected by this year’s cancellations to address issues including the economic and cultural contribution of the British festival industry, the impact of cancellations, the risk to future festivals and the measures required to allow them to proceed. “It’s crucial that support to enable music festivals to go ahead in 2021 and beyond is put in place,” said Knight.
Festivals are estimated to have generated £1.76bn gross value added in 2019, with considerable benefit to local economies – in 2017, festival-goers spent an estimated £34.7m in the areas surrounding event sites. A number of festivals including End of the Road, Nass, Bluedot, Truck, Deer Shed and Nozstock received support from the government’s culture recovery fund; the committee will examine its impact on those events.
In addition to addressing the viability of future festivals, the government will also address how festivals might be supported to reduce environmental impact and illegal drug use.
The latest DCMS inquiry follows news that MPs plan to hold an inquiry into the effects of streaming on the future of the music industry.