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South Africa - Although the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic brought the live events industry to a virtual standstill, the past 15 months have been busier than ever for SACIA’s Events Safety Council. The Council is an association of event safety specialists and event safety companies providing event safety solutions for the South African event sector. It is part of a global network of event safety professionals dealing with health and safety in the events industry.
The advent of the pandemic saw council members, unable to earn a living under lockdown restrictions, volunteering their time to drive the recovery of the event sector in South Africa instead. "It has been a rollercoaster ride, keeping one's wits about you, staying motivated and positive, and pressurising the government to recognise that our professional recovery plan will successfully keep people COVID-safe at t

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UK - Tour manager and The Back Lounge founder Suzi Green has commissioned a series of resilience workshops for the live music industry as the touring sector begins its transition back into the demands of event production.
The three free sessions will cover: Mindfulness for Touring with Craig Ali (Monday 21 June 6pm), Healthy Boundaries with Laura Ferguson (Wednesday 14July), and Sleep & Jet Lag with Matt Kansy (Wednesday 4 August).
The workshops will explore a range of topics from coping strategies for dealing with 'heated' moments in high pressure situations, how to naturally wind down at the end of an intense day, rate negotiation, managing workload and effective communication, maximising the quality of your sleep and techniques to combat jet lag and shift work.
The workshops were made possible through the Culture Recovery Fund and, although open to anyon
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Prohibitive Pricing - Theatre companies are warning that prohibitively high prices and uncertainty over COVID-19 are hindering their efforts to stage outdoor work this summer, with reports that some venues are hesitant to hire their spaces to theatre producers while others have withdrawn entirely. Mid-scale companies are being especially hard hit, producers are warning, with a lack of available digs also making producing shows particularly difficult to stage.
Companies including Oxford-based Creation Theatre and touring theatre group Handlebards, as well as the Association of Circus Proprietors of Great Britain, have said the knock-on effects of the pandemic are generating new challenges to booking outdoor venues. Creation Theatre is planning to stage a production of The Wind in the Willows this summer, but told The Stage it was struggling to find a suitable sp

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UK - In partnership with the National Film and Theatre School (NFTS), this year’s coveted Christie prize for Most Promising NFTS Student was awarded to Charlie Jenkins, NFTS graduate in cinematography. Charlie received a monetary prize, a certificate, and a crystal trophy to celebrate the win at the socially distanced graduate ceremony. It is the 16th year of Christie’s partnership with NFTS, having supported the School with a variety of initiatives designed to nurture students and develop facilities, including its upgrade from film to digital projection equipment.
Oliver Stapleton and Stuart Harris, co-heads of the NFTS Cinematography MA, comments: “Charlie Jenkins is an exemplary student whose helpfulness to others knows no bounds. As soon as the School re-opened after lockdown, he immediately went to work and assisted the Animation, Model Making and Cinematography d

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Another Lost Summer - UK music festivals face "another lost summer" due to the government's refusal to back insurance for events at risk, a committee of MPs has found. A report into the sector's future said the government should provide a safety net for live events set to take place after 21 June.
Several major festivals have been axed for the second year running, but the government claims it is "continuing to work flat-out to support festivals and live events". Glastonbury and BST Hyde Park will not take place this year, but others, like Latitude and Download, are currently scheduled to go ahead. The latter was called off in March but has since been resurrected as a government test event, albeit with a significantly reduced capacity.
On 21 June, the government hopes to move to the final stage of its roadmap for lifting lockdown. Restrictions on large events such as mu

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UK - Founders of the global #WeMakeEvents movement feature in the fourth episode of The Meister Series, Jägermeister’s project celebrating “the mavericks and innovators in the music and events industry.”
In April 2020, #WeMakeEvents was launched by PLASA in response to the impact of the pandemic on the live events ecosystem. What started as a single UK campaign soon grew into a global movement now spanning 40 countries. Since then, through fundraising, mental health support and campaigning, the organisation has worked tirelessly to keep the music industry alive and support those impacted by the crisis.
In this fourth episode, founders and board members of #WeMakeEvents - Nicky Greet and Peter Heath from PLASA, Koy Neminathan from Avolites and James Gordon from Audiotonix - join Jägermeister in a passiona

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Long-term Recovery - Arts Council England has announced details of a £42m fund to support the long-term recovery of the arts, heritage and creative sectors. The Cultural Investment Fund, which is a Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport programme administered by ACE, is made up of three strands. These are the Cultural Development Fund, Museum Estate and Development Fund and Libraries Improvement Fund.
The Cultural Investment Fund was originally announced in 2019, but was put on hold during the pandemic to prioritise the delivery of the Culture Recovery Fund. With a budget of £18.5m in this financial year, the Cultural Development Fund will support places outside of London to invest in "creative, cultural and heritage initiatives that are designed to make places more attractive to live and work in and to visit". This is the second round of the Cultural Development

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USA - Behind the Scenes has announced that Cable Munkey has become a Pledge-a-Product partner by pledging a percentage of sales from its Cable Munkey cable management product.
Cable Munkey is a small business founded to bring innovative products and solutions to the theatre and live event market, like Cable Munkey. Founder Jonathan Allender-Zivic says he decided to support Behind the Scenes with his product because “I am a lifelong theatre artist and practitioner who wants to give back to those in need within our industry”.
BTS Foundation chair Rick Rudolph commented, “We’re delighted to welcome Jonathan and his unique product as Pledge-a-Product partners. He’s a wonderful example that you don’t have to be a large company to want to give back and support your industry. Every commitment makes a difference in what we are able to do to help our colleagues in

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Europe - Neutrik UK has announced the appointment of Karl Cowing as its new sales manager. Cowing comes to the position with an extensive 22-year career in engineering, and engineering sales, support and key account management roles within the electronics, automotive, transport, aerospace and defence sectors, including with Formula BMW, Varta, Aerco, Molex and Smiths Interconnect.
His experience includes responsibility for electronic interconnect solutions into strategic aerospace and defence customers, helping them adapt to rapidly changing technology requirements within the radar and electronic warfare sector, and positioning high reliability RF electronic connectivity solutions, including fibre optic technology, to help customers address future bandwidth issues.
Commenting on his appointment, Cowing says, “Over the years I have known of Neutrik connectors as best

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Olympic Proportions - Plans have been announced for the construction of the biggest theatre in London for 45 years. The 1,575-seat Olympia will form part of a redevelopment of the same name in Kensington. It follows a £100m deal between theatre operator Trafalgar Entertainment and the site owners of Kensington Olympia in west London. The last theatre to open in the capital with over 1,000 seats was the National Theatre on South Bank in 1976.
If plans are approved, the Olympia theatre is scheduled to open in 2025 and Trafalgar Entertainment would have a lease for 35 years. Trafalgar co-founder Sir Howard Panter said it would be "something of international stature as the UK emerges into the new era". He added: "We hope that a bit like our neighbour just down the road, the Royal Albert Hall, it will become an iconic, marvellous cultural building in its own right. The announcem

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UK - Donated by international metal-music industry heavyweights such as Black Sabbath, Nuclear Blast, My Dying Bride, Laney, Epiphone, Earache, Kerrang, Century Media, Sony/BMG, Razamataz, Krusher Joule, Live Nation/Download, 5BAM, Bravado, Blaze Bailey, Very Metal Art, Good As Gold, and UK Metal Merger, #ILoveMetal is the world’s biggest ever metal-music charity prize draw.
In partnership with Julie Weir/Music For Nations – the #ILoveMetal collection was collated by the UK Metal Merger In Solitude single supergroup collaboration, with the motivation of raising funds for the Stagehand Charity which is dedicated to providing severe-hardship funding and mental health support for live events industry workers.
The #ILoveMetal campaign supports the UK’s live event workers who right now, are in financial crisis. Whilst providing the opportunity to win money-can

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USA - On 5 May, ANSI's Board of Standards Review approved two ESTA documents as American National Standards. The following day, ANSI's BSR approved four more. All six are now published and available on the ESTA TSP website for download at no cost at http://tsp.esta.org/freestandards. You also may buy them from ANSI and IHS Markit for $40 each.
ANSI E1.2 – 2021, Entertainment Technology - Design, Manufacture and Use of Aluminum Trusses and Towers describes what the title says, and also the associated aluminium structural components, such as head blocks, sleeve blocks, bases, and corner blocks, used in the entertainment industry in portable structures. It's a revision of and supersedes the previous version.
ANSI E1.28 – 2011 (R2021), Guidance on planning followspot positions in places of public assembly, offers guidance on the planning of permanent foll

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Green Light - Theatres across England have been given the green light to reopen from next week under the next stage of the government’s roadmap. Venues will be able to open with social distancing, with capacities capped at 50% or 1,000 people for indoor shows, and 50% or 4,000 people outdoors.
For many theatres it will mark the first time they have been able to open their doors in more than a year, with theatre bosses now looking forward to the possibility of social distancing being removed completely by June 21, the next date in the roadmap.
Prime minister Boris Johnson said theatres would be able to reopen on 17 May and added that the country was “on track" to move to Step 4 of the roadmap on 21 June, under which social distancing would be removed. "Today we are announcing the single biggest step in our roadmap and it will allow us to do many of the things we hav

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UK - Eyes in the UK and across the World focused on Liverpool’s Bramley Moore Dock successful test events, at Circus, hailing the return of live music from lockdown, with two nights of dance music (30 April/1 May), with over 6,000 people in the audience and Symphotech managing the health & safety.
Symphotech worked from the conception of the test events, supporting the organisers, Circus Music and The Events Company UK, to create a Covid safe event. With the emphasis on the research and test event aspect of the shows, protocols had to meet the criteria required by the scientists and multiple stakeholders.
Symphotech director Eddy Grant was their project leader, producing a detailed, constantly evolving risk analysis for the staff and the audience. He explains: “When the roadmap out of lockdown was announced by the government, in February, I spoke with Sam News

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UK - Only Helix, known for its work with artists like Years & Years, Bat For Lashes, Amy Macdonald and Bombay Bicycle Club, has launched a new travel service that’s designed to meet the specific needs of touring professionals. OH Visas is rooted in an understanding of how the entertainment industry works, and has been developed to take the travel stress out of touring.
Only Helix’s Steven Down and Tom Nicol are the masterminds behind the service, which will be headed up by travel industry specialist, Ben Young.
“OH Visas was borne from our combined experiences, frustrations and successes with travel over the years,” explains Down. “Brexit and Covid-19 has obviously also shifted things quite dramatically and we wanted to find an easier process for ourselves and our clients.”
Nicol elaborates: “We realised this solution was something that others w

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USA - The Behind the Scenes Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Initiative has announced its participation in the Mental Health Action Day, to be held on 20 May in partnership with more than 600 leading brands, non-profit organisations, government agencies, and cultural leaders.
Over the past two decades, suicide rates have risen and the COVID pandemic has accelerated the already crisis, giving way to what many mental health professionals have called the “second pandemic”.
Though more people than ever are comfortable discussing mental health, finding effective resources and knowing how to get help remains a challenge. Mental Health Action Day is an open-source movement to drive culture from mental health awareness to mental health action.
Partners will encourage people to take mental health action - whether for themselves, for their loved ones, or to advo

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On Trial - A pilot concert in Liverpool on Sunday saw 5,000 people legally crammed into a small space for the first time since the start of the pandemic. The mini-festival, headlined by Blossoms, in Liverpool's Sefton Park was one of the government's official trial events to research how large gatherings can safely take place again.
All ticket holders had to take a supervised lateral flow test at one of four testing centres in the city the day before and were only allowed in if the test was negative. They were also strongly encouraged to take more sensitive PCR tests on the day of the show and to do so again five days later, on Friday. That will be crucial to working out whether there was any spread of the virus. It's all with the aim of working out how summer music festivals can go ahead after 21 June, when stage four of the government reopening roadmap will, in theory, see

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Silent Spaces - Venues and spaces that have remained largely unused due to the pandemic feature in a new series of films in which performers and musicians take over the spaces. The series of films, called Silent Spaces, is described as a “creative lockdown response driven by a pervading sense of Covid-induced personal and professional loneliness”. It has been created by musician and composer Soumik Datta and directed by his brother Souvid Datta.
Featuring a team of British Asian, black and ethnic minority musicians and dancers, the film-makers and performers create works in the British Museum, the Royal Albert Hall, Depot Mayfield in Manchester and Sage Gateshead, alongside Hawkwood College and London King’s Cross station. The six films explore “resonant themes in keeping with the choice of venue”, the producers said, and tackle issues around mental health,

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The Netherlands - Highlite International has announced a new brand for all their accessory products. Showgear will be the brand for all accessories for event and installation solutions including flight cases, stands and stage essentials, and provide ‘every piece of supplemental gear you need for your show’.
“Showgear will offer basically every piece of accessory that is needed on or off stage, from flight cases to back drops to speaker stands to rigging equipment,” says Highlite. “Products from Showgear will be supporting your stage performances and events in every situation you can think of.”
Showgear carries clamps, LED bulbs, tapes, heavy duty power strips, gear bags, butterfly locks, 19-inch racks and accessories, stands, cable straps, fog fluids, confetti and other expendables, and every other indispensable event accessory you may need. “Take the Sho

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UK - Penguin Media Hire, the Brighton based event production and rental company, has appointed Sonny Evans as its new managing director. This coincides with the announcement of their expansion with a London warehouse and further facilities to come in the near future.
Co-founder Dylan Thompson explains: “We have worked with Sonny on a number of projects over the years, and we’ve always had a great working relationship. With an exit in sight from the Covid nightmare we have all found ourselves in, now is the time to continue securing the best team for our current and future clients. Our sales and installation sector of the group, Penguin Media Solutions, is taking much more of my focus, and I can’t think of anyone better to push the rental and event production side onwards.”
Penguin Media Hire has also secured a new premises less than a mile from ExCeL London, pl

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UK - The live events and music industry will work with the Government on COVID-status certification to support full reopening and sector recovery.
Industry organisations including PLASA, Music Venues Trust, Live and Association of Festival Organisers, alongside major venues including the 02 and NEC Group, have issued a statement that outlines this support.
“The live events and music industry which includes exhibitions; conferences; music arenas; festivals; theatres and indoor sporting events, welcomes the establishment of the Events Research Programme and the safe return of live events as part of the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown,” says the statement.
“The industry is committed to working with the Government to ensure a swift delivery of the Event Research Programme’s pilot events and stands ready to establish protocols based upon the informatio

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UK - Version 2, which specialises in lighting hire specifically for the television industry, has expanded its stock of MDG products with the addition of two ATMe haze generators. “Our clients trust us to specify the right products and we know that MDG produces the best haze for the television market,” says Nick Edwards, managing director of Version 2.
Edwards has 25 years of dedicated television lighting experience, having held technical, commercial and management positions at PRG, Panalux and Aurora, after his training at the flagship training facility in BBC Wood Norton, prior to founding Version 2 in 2016. This experience puts him in a strong position when it comes to choosing the best products for his clients, many of whom have worked with him for years and trust his technical know-how.
“All our equipment investments have been rigorously researched and teste

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Blossom Time - Music fans in Liverpool are to get the chance to enjoy a near-normal gig as part of a government pilot event. A crowd of 5,000 will see headline act Blossoms without having to social-distance or wear face coverings. But they will only get into the 2 May event by having a negative Covid test.
The outdoor concert at Sefton Park will operate below its capacity of 7,500. Ticket-holders will be required to take a lateral flow test, which can produce a result within 30 minutes, at a local testing centre before entry, the Department for Digital Culture Media and Sport said. Attendees will also be asked to take a test after the concert - and will have to provide contact details to NHS Test and Trace to ensure they can be reached if someone who attended tests positive.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: "We're one step closer to a summer of live events

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UK - Colleagues, clients and friends have been paying tribute to Ken Watts, the popular tour director who died last week. Acts he worked with include George Michael, Duran Duran, Natalie Imbruglia, Bond, Blues Brothers, Jamiroquai and Duran Duran.
Dennis Gardner, production manager for singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, wrote in a Facebook post: “It is with much sadness, this weekend I received news of the passing of my mentor, my friend, my brother and fearless leader Ken Watts. He was (and will remain) an industry legend and a personal hero of mine. I have learnt and continue to learn from Ken and the way he approached everything he did with heart, a heavy dose of common sense and, as ever, a wonderful sense of humour. Simply put, Ken taught me nearly everything.”
Neg Earth Lights wrote on Facebook: “The shock with which we learnt of the loss of Ken Watts, who pass
  1. The Week in Light & Sound
  2. MGG supports TUT’s alternative programme
  3. InCord backs Behind the Scenes
  4. The Week in Light & Sound
  5. The Week in Light & Sound
  6. The Week in Light & Sound
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