Submission to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee inquiry into the “The future of UK music festivals” on behalf of the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group

APPJAG is submitting evidence to the inquiry to ensure that UK music festivals and jazz festivals in particular are given the support and resources to enable them to survive and thrive up to and when normality is resumed.

Summary

Reference 1 – UK Music festivals generate and contribute £6 billion to the economy. Of crucial importance is music tourism contributing £4.5 billion to the economy in 2018. Jazz Festivals are an important part of the UK jazz Scene. The number of jazz festivals in the UK ranges from 91-200. Music and jazz festivals have a number of beneficial impacts that are social, political, creative and economic. The multiplier effect of festivals is such that, for example,  £1 spent at Manchester Jazz Festival will generate £6 for the local economy.

Reference 2 – Without financial support 30% of the UK festival scene will not survive into 2021. As the festival sector is a £6 billion contributor to the economy that will transform it into a £4.2 billion contributor with a corresponding impact on jobs and local economies.

Reference 3 – The Association of Independent Festivals has made a number of recommendations to the UK Government that include business support packages, VAT breaks on ticket sales for a minimum of 18 months and social distancing measures.

Reference 4 – Audiences need to be confident that they can attend a festival safely and that there are facilities or support for testing, which is achievable through rapid testing and track and trace.

Reference 5 – Detailed evidence will be provided by other organisation such as UK Music, Association of Independent Festivals and Association of Festival Organisers.

Reference 6 – More and more people are motivated by the social aspect of a live event. Another growing concern for attenders is “eco impact”. There is a growing preference for people to attend cash-free music events, digital payments could revolutionise the events industry.

Reference 7 – The Association of Independent Festivals has set up a number of initiatives to address these issues such as no single use tents, campaigns to eliminate all single use plastic by 2021, a Festival Fuel Tool – festivals organisers can now use a free online tool to check their energy performance in less than a minute and campaigns to raise awareness of legal highs.

Please see for full report: APPJAG Submission to the DCMS Committee inquiry into the future of UK music festivals