Danish gov unveils DKK 500m safety net for events

The Danish government has announced a DKK 500 million (€67.2m) safety net for festivals and major events, allowing organisers to plan for this summer without the financial risk posed by a potential Covid outbreak.

The safety net will cover organisers of recurring events with at least 350 participants (such as music festivals, super league matches, conferences and markets), as well as events that were planned before 6 March 2020, but will not include new events created during the pandemic.

The scheme is a ‘continuation and simplification’ of the existing organiser scheme and will cover eligible events between 1 May and 30 September 2021 in the event that the Covid-19 situation results in the cancellation, postponement or significant changes to an event.

The full agreement, which must be approved by the European Commission, includes a ‘compensation ladder’ which provides organisers with an estimation of what they can expect to receive in compensation and deliver on to suppliers.

“Festival organisers can continue to plan with peace of mind”

In addition to the safety net, the agreement also includes an emergency pool of DKK 30m for bankruptcy-threatened large charitable music festivals, which each year distribute their profits to charitable causes.

“We all hope for a summer where the infection situation allows us to gather for festivals again,” says minister for culture, Joy Mogensen. “Until then, the festival organisers can continue to plan soundly with peace of mind. With the agreement, we ensure that festivals will be compensated if they have to cancel due to restrictions.”

Esben Marcher, head of Denmark’s live music association, Dansk Live, says: “It is positive that there is now a financial safety net for the festivals, so that the organisers can complete the preparation of this summer’s festivals. We will, of course, follow the implementation of the agreement closely. However, we still need clarification on whether there will be restrictions this summer, and which scenarios we must plan based on.”

Last week, Denmark’s ‘restart team’ submitted a catalogue of recommendations on the reopening of the cultural and sports sectors to the ministry of culture for government approval.

Denmark is the latest market to announce an event cancellation fund, taking note from Germany’s €2.5bn pot, Austria’s €300m ‘protective umbrella’, the Netherlands’ €300m fund, Belgium’s €60m festival cancellation pot and Norway’s €34m festival safety net.

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