Boomtown Chapter 1: The Gathering

[bennyhana22]

34 minutes ago, TheFullShaboo said:

*(this is all based on my personal experience of course, but I do genuinely believe that those in charge do care about the event they put on, and not just the money they make from it)

This 👆🏼

Although I'm a dance-monkey and so love the night-time, the daytime musical profile of Boomtown couldn't be described as my typical choices. However, the continuing ethos of Boomtown makes it massively attractive to me. The Boomtown crew have gone on record time after time waxing lyrically of their desire to create something artistically special for all their festival goers, seeing commercial success as an unavoidably important issue, but secondary to the experience. On that basis, I think we have every reason to trust in their skill and judgment to deliver an amazing, not overcrowded festival, despite the challenges they are facing immediately post peak-COVID etc.

Ben

[TheFullShaboo]

1 hour ago, bennyhana22 said:

This 👆🏼

Although I'm a dance-monkey and so love the night-time, the daytime musical profile of Boomtown couldn't be described as my typical choices. However, the continuing ethos of Boomtown makes it massively attractive to me. The Boomtown crew have gone on record time after time waxing lyrically of their desire to create something artistically special for all their festival goers, seeing commercial success as an unavoidably important issue, but secondary to the experience. On that basis, I think we have every reason to trust in their skill and judgment to deliver an amazing, not overcrowded festival, despite the challenges they are facing immediately post peak-COVID etc.

Ben

Nicely put.

Thankfully the punters appreciation of their hard work and values has been reciprocated with a sold out event. 
My group were planning Houghton this year, but as soon as word spread that boomtown was potentially facing difficulties, we all changed tune and decided to return and help them out.

Is there another festival we’d do the same for? Possibly, but arriving at a group consensus would have certainly taken longer.

[manateemike]

6 hours ago, bennyhana22 said:

This 👆🏼

Although I'm a dance-monkey and so love the night-time, the daytime musical profile of Boomtown couldn't be described as my typical choices. However, the continuing ethos of Boomtown makes it massively attractive to me. The Boomtown crew have gone on record time after time waxing lyrically of their desire to create something artistically special for all their festival goers, seeing commercial success as an unavoidably important issue, but secondary to the experience. On that basis, I think we have every reason to trust in their skill and judgment to deliver an amazing, not overcrowded festival, despite the challenges they are facing immediately post peak-COVID etc.

Ben

At no point have I said it’s for the money. I was their for the first in the bowl and have watched it grow steadily as well. 
I dream  they got feedback they could sell same as last year and will now maybe bring back Uptown and are just holding off on the announcement. Don’t know why they would be doing that tho.

But I’m sorry, I just don’t see 48k in Downtown, not with a good selection of venues offering the same kind of selection as in the past. 

[mr flow]

On 3/13/2021 at 8:07 PM, manateemike said:

At no point have I said it’s for the money. I was their for the first in the bowl and have watched it grow steadily as well. 
I dream  they got feedback they could sell same as last year and will now maybe bring back Uptown and are just holding off on the announcement. Don’t know why they would be doing that tho.

But I’m sorry, I just don’t see 48k in Downtown, not with a good selection of venues offering the same kind of selection as in the past. 

Firstly it isn't 48K punters. Yes, Anna mentioned that on the radio interview, but it's around 30K tickets being sold. The only areas of the site that aren't going to be used are Temple Valley and the Lions Den, so you still have a very big area to use. The fat that all camping is outside of the bowl will make a lot more space, and based on @Sku's map, there is potential for a large stage at the bottom of the hippy highway, and that is a huge space to use, which hasn't previously been used before.

Boomtown are only too well aware of the fact this festival needs to be nailed. They are pulling out all of the stops to ensure that is achieved, and in the process they will be ensuring the Boomtown ethos returns. In my opinion, the last 2-3 festivals had started to go away from what once made Boomtown special. It had gotten too big too quickly, and this is a chance to get back that Boomtown magic again.

[manateemike]

16 hours ago, mr flow said:

Firstly it isn't 48K punters. Yes, Anna mentioned that on the radio interview, but it's around 30K tickets being sold. The only areas of the site that aren't going to be used are Temple Valley and the Lions Den, so you still have a very big area to use. The fat that all camping is outside of the bowl will make a lot more space, and based on @Sku's map, there is potential for a large stage at the bottom of the hippy highway, and that is a huge space to use, which hasn't previously been used before.

Boomtown are only too well aware of the fact this festival needs to be nailed. They are pulling out all of the stops to ensure that is achieved, and in the process they will be ensuring the Boomtown ethos returns. In my opinion, the last 2-3 festivals had started to go away from what once made Boomtown special. It had gotten too big too quickly, and this is a chance to get back that Boomtown magic again.

Excellent news.
 

When did she rescind the 48k public tickets bit then ?

[mr flow]

4 hours ago, manateemike said:

Excellent news.
 

When did she rescind the 48k public tickets bit then ?

I think she got confused as they will have 48K people on site. You forget how large the crew is for an event like Boomtown with all of the interactive elements and actors. They usually have 15K crew, artists and performers on site, so this isn't unusual or will make it any noticeably busier. 

[JBarbour]

On 3/16/2021 at 6:25 AM, manateemike said:

Excellent news.

When did she rescind the 48k public tickets bit then ?

The licence is for 58,000 ticket holders, and 17,999 crew but this year is reduced capacity and smaller event. 10k less ticket holders and a much smaller arena/stage footprint will feel incredibly busy and packed in. So to hopes its not the tickets sold. 

I do think Anna may has confused this years capacity and ticket holders tbf. Unless they do plan to use more of the space they have, the map they have submitted for the licence is still for the full scale event so its possible. 

 

[Sku]

6 hours ago, JBarbour said:

I do think Anna may has confused this years capacity and ticket holders tbf. Unless they do plan to use more of the space they have, the map they have submitted for the licence is still for the full scale event so its possible. 

 

I am increasingly thinking along these lines. When they announced the smaller Boomtown back in October, I got to speak to some of the team briefly, and I think they were a little sceptical about how easy it might be to shift the remaining tickets.

The idea was, that this new vision for the festival, would build in some resilience to account for changing circumstances. It would allow them to be a bit flexible with the size, depending on how many tickets they went on to sell. By not confirming a line-up in advance, they could book acts that fit the budget better based on the eventual sales, which was a big unknown given the climate at the time.

The sales have gone a lot better than expected, so perhaps at this point we are just waiting on an announcement that will confirm it is bit bigger again after all. An announcement of that nature is probably just pending a bit more certainty about whether the event can actually go ahead or not. No point starting to announce anything, if they have to cancel again.

The festival is definitely still smaller than in previous years, and there are less tickets than the full capacity, but the size of that reduction is not of the magnitude that has been previously speculated on.

[JBarbour]

1 hour ago, Sku said:

 An announcement of that nature is probably just pending a bit more certainty about whether the event can actually go ahead or not. No point starting to announce anything, if they have to cancel again.

The festival is definitely still smaller than in previous years, and there are less tickets than the full capacity, but the size of that reduction is not of the magnitude that has been previously speculated on.

A handful of mid tier festivals are holding back any announcements at the moment, even though they have just about a full line up to put out. Hoping the next few weeks we'll get a clearer picture if events are likely to take place. Def no point announcing anything to then cancel a few weeks later, especially when some of these events are sold out or close to. 

Doesn't look like the best of news with the possibility of holding back the under 50s vaccines because of a drop off in supply. 

[bennyhana22]

On 3/17/2021 at 8:14 PM, JBarbour said:

Doesn't look like the best of news with the possibility of holding back the under 50s vaccines because of a drop off in supply. 

Except that all the planning for the festivals' organisers was based on all UK adults being vaccinated by end-July. That hasn't changed - they're still optimistic of reaching the target at that time. The most recent guestimate, prior to this blip with supply, was that they may achieve all-adult cover by mid-June. Even with the blip (and, of course, accepting that there could be further blips...), I am optimistic that they will not only make the end-July target, but come in earlier than that - over 660 000 vaccinations yesterday, indicating that, supply notwithstanding, the capacity to vaccinate is incredible. 

So, I still feel that cancellation, which is by no means impossible, will not be because of failure of the vaccination programme to deliver on schedule.

Ben

[Paul ™]

1 hour ago, bennyhana22 said:

I still feel that cancellation, which is by no means impossible, will not be because of failure of the vaccination programme to deliver on schedule

I agree, any early cancellations will be down to the DCMS and their failure to pass on any solid details to local authorities who deal with licencing etc.
And even that is not anything to do with the loosely worded 'roadmap' that event organisers are seemingly basing their view that everything will be fine after 21st June. 

There is apparently further guidance to come out early April that will hopefully give more details that can then be used to proceed a bit further with caution, but until that comes out, some organisers will quite rightly won't commit to spending on deposits etc. 

[incident]

2 hours ago, bennyhana22 said:

Except that all the planning for the festivals' organisers was based on all UK adults being vaccinated by end-July. That hasn't changed - they're still optimistic of reaching the target at that time. The most recent guestimate, prior to this blip with supply, was that they may achieve all-adult cover by mid-June. Even with the blip (and, of course, accepting that there could be further blips...), I am optimistic that they will not only make the end-July target, but come in earlier than that - over 660 000 vaccinations yesterday, indicating that, supply notwithstanding, the capacity to vaccinate is incredible.

Yeah - it's worth remembering that in terms of specific numbers, this "blip" is 5 million less doses in the short term.

That's approximately 2 weeks worth of 1st doses. It's a shame, and naturally is causing some concern, but ultimately is recoverable especially if the Novavax vaccine comes online as expected in a few weeks time. The official target will still be comfortably be met, and I'm pretty confident it'll be beaten by at least a month.

[bennyhana22]

50 minutes ago, incident said:

Yeah - it's worth remembering that in terms of specific numbers, this "blip" is 5 million less doses in the short term.

That's approximately 2 weeks worth of 1st doses. It's a shame, and naturally is causing some concern, but ultimately is recoverable especially if the Novavax vaccine comes online as expected in a few weeks time. The official target will still be comfortably be met, and I'm pretty confident it'll be beaten by at least a month.

Agreed. As said, with myriad potential issues influencing the events industry in the summer, I am confident that U.K. vaccination coverage won't be one of them.

Ben

[vintagelaureate]

Good news, hopefully means they'll get through this year no matter what.

 

[Sawdusty surfer]

From Lak, the head honcho.....

We are super happy and very grateful to receive funding support from the cultural recovery pot today - the arts council have done an incredible job in managing the distribution. Receiving almost the maximum amount shows a recognition for events based around the arts.

However to put things into perspective, although this pot gives us a bit more stability and planning time, this is in fact only a small lifeline, the festival costs around 17 million to put on each year and due to its creative nature only has a small profit margin.. if we get good whether!! this coupled with the fact we are still independent means there is absolutely no magic fund pot to fall back on, everything there was, and more, was swallowed up by the cancellation of last year.

I’m normally very cautious about opening up around finances online but I think in this case it’s important to give a clear overview as the whole independent events industry is still very much hanging on by a thread.

Unless we get government backed insurance in the very near future, something we have been campaigning on for months, to start paying deposits so contractors can bring teams back and start planning, then we won’t be able to go ahead with the next addition of the festival this august, even if restrictions are eased in June.

We are doing everything we possibly can and have everything crossed that the government will see the importance of our industry and give us the actual support we need but unfortunately it feels like hope and optimism is underpinning everything right now.....

Sending so much love to all the incredible events people out there that are hanging on in such an insane state of limbo xxxx

[Leyrulion]

Well that update is not positive at all. Sounds like even with the road map they're not able to take the risk without insurance. 😞

[Paul ™]

9 minutes ago, Leyrulion said:

Well that update is not positive at all. Sounds like even with the road map they're not able to take the risk without insurance. 😞

Understandably with their set up costs and expenses to risk the future of the whole event. 

There's a few more who will probably do the same shortly.

[vintagelaureate]

2 hours ago, Leyrulion said:

Well that update is not positive at all. Sounds like even with the road map they're not able to take the risk without insurance. 😞

Yeah, doesn't sound great. Also, £17 million... wow! The money they received yesterday (just under a million) is a drop in the ocean.

[Leyrulion]

Although with ticket prices being £280 and about a 40,000 capacity that only takes you to £11.2 million. So not quite sure where the other 6 million comes from in a normal year.

[incident]

11 minutes ago, Leyrulion said:

Although with ticket prices being £280 and about a 40,000 capacity that only takes you to £11.2 million. So not quite sure where the other 6 million comes from in a normal year.

It wouldn't shock me if the traders pitch fees combined came to somewhere around a million total.

[Paul ™]

Sponsorship, Traders, Bars, Parking, Glamping are just some other revenue streams apart from tickets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JBarbour]

1 hour ago, Leyrulion said:

Although with ticket prices being £280 and about a 40,000 capacity that only takes you to £11.2 million. So not quite sure where the other 6 million comes from in a normal year.

The statement put out mentioned they have a small profit margin on a good year in regards to the weather. With people out and about more, around the festival spending more money at bars, on food... They charge fees for traders and in some cases take a cut of their takings. In high traffic areas traders can pay a fortune for a pitch. 

Then you have the extras like pre pitched, parking and other upgrades, merchandise... They'll maybe get some art grants 

The 17 million maybe the top end estimate and some years it may not cost that much when they reusing stages and designs. 

[blutarsky]

16 hours ago, vintagelaureate said:

Yeah, doesn't sound great. Also, £17 million... wow! The money they received yesterday (just under a million) is a drop in the ocean.

Not to be pedantic, but... 

The grant constitutes 5.3% of their annual outlay on the festival. 5.3% of the world’s oceans is 17,013,000 cubic miles or roughly 1,418,265,547,924,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 drops of water. Such a misleading phrase...
 

/hyperbolic pedantry. 
 

[vintagelaureate]

1 hour ago, blutarsky said:

Not to be pedantic, but... 

The grant constitutes 5.3% of their annual outlay on the festival. 5.3% of the world’s oceans is 17,013,000 cubic miles or roughly 1,418,265,547,924,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 drops of water. Such a misleading phrase...
 

/hyperbolic pedantry. 
 

A good analysis of an idiom. 😅👍  That's the English teacher in you!

 

Edited April 4, 2021 by vintagelaureate

[TheFullShaboo]

On 4/2/2021 at 7:31 PM, Pinrut said:

From Lak, the head honcho.....

We are super happy and very grateful to receive funding support from the cultural recovery pot today - the arts council have done an incredible job in managing the distribution. Receiving almost the maximum amount shows a recognition for events based around the arts.

However to put things into perspective, although this pot gives us a bit more stability and planning time, this is in fact only a small lifeline, the festival costs around 17 million to put on each year and due to its creative nature only has a small profit margin.. if we get good whether!! this coupled with the fact we are still independent means there is absolutely no magic fund pot to fall back on, everything there was, and more, was swallowed up by the cancellation of last year.

I’m normally very cautious about opening up around finances online but I think in this case it’s important to give a clear overview as the whole independent events industry is still very much hanging on by a thread.

Unless we get government backed insurance in the very near future, something we have been campaigning on for months, to start paying deposits so contractors can bring teams back and start planning, then we won’t be able to go ahead with the next addition of the festival this august, even if restrictions are eased in June.

We are doing everything we possibly can and have everything crossed that the government will see the importance of our industry and give us the actual support we need but unfortunately it feels like hope and optimism is underpinning everything right now.....

Sending so much love to all the incredible events people out there that are hanging on in such an insane state of limbo xxxx

After a weekend catching up with friends, having a few drinks and pondering this summers plans, this is one hell of a kickback. 

I knew that the government backed insurance was pivotal early on in the year, but ive always assumed that once the restrictions end on the 21st, then its full steam ahead with nothing left to block our festival-heavy summer. 

😞