Christopher BarrettMPs will hear from Notting Hill Carnival chief executive Matthew Phillip (pictured) about the economic and social importance of festivals to local communities during the second session of the DCMS Select Committee Future of UK Music Festivals inquiry on February 2.
MPs will hear about the impact of cancellations on local residents, volunteers and audiences. The session will also consider the impact to festival supply chains and those who work at festivals, such as artists, technicians and security guards, hearing the experience of Tre Stead, tour manager for Frank Turner. Another focus is expected to be the impact of the UK-EU trade deal on touring arrangements.
The final panel will cover how communities, local authorities and public spaces could be affected after the loss of income from events in public parks.
The online sessions will be available to watch live here, and the schedule is as follows:
Witnesses from 10.00
Panel 1:
- Matthew Phillip, Chief Executive, Notting Hill Carnival Ltd
- Rowan Cannon, Director, Wild Rumpus
Panel 2, at approx. 10:45:
- Duncan Bell, Political group leader, #WeMakeEvents
- Tre Stead, Tour Manager
Panel 3, at approx. 11:30:
- Dr Andrew Smith, Reader, Architecture and Cities, University of Westminster
The meeting follows the opening committee meeting on 5 January, which led to more than a dozen MPs and over 100 event industry executives signing a letter that was sent to the chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak, and prime minister Boris Johnson, calling for him to implement a Government-backed insurance scheme for festivals and live music events or face them disappearing from our fields and cities for good.
Then opening session saw contributions from Association of Independent Festivals CEO Paul Reed, UK Music CEO Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, Parklife (cap, 80,000) co-founder Sacha Lord and Boomtown (66,000) communications & strategy director Anna Wade.