Isle of Wight Festival boss calls on Government to let events industry help vaccination effort

Solo Agency MD John Giddings, the operator of the 90,000-capacity Isle of Wight Festival, has called on prime minister Boris Johnson to engage the events industry to help in the mass roll-out of Covid-19 vaccinations.

“We are the music business – we have thousands of skilled people capable of running events, and empty theatres, clubs and arenas,” he said. “Give us the vaccines and we will work 24 hours a day to sort it.”

The Isle of Wight is one of the few major UK festivals to have already gone on sale. It is scheduled to take place on 17-20 June, with a line up including Snow Patrol, Duran Duran, Lionel Ritchie, Primal Scream and Jess Glynne. Tickets are priced £185.

The Isle of Wight Festival first took place in 1968. Giddings rived the event, after a 32 year hiatus, in 2002. The festival is understood to generate more than £10m per year to the local economy.