Peter Noble: ‘Bluesfest 2025 doesn’t have to be the last’
After announcing that Byron Bay Bluesfest would bow out next year, Peter Noble now says that the 2025 edition of the Australian festival “doesn’t have to be the last”.
In an open letter, the festival director issued a call to save the long-running institution ahead of the “final curtain call” in April 2025.
“I want to make it clear that it was never my intention to end Bluesfest,” says Noble in the letter. “I have always believed in its future, and I still do. But the current circumstances make it impossible to continue the festival in its current form.
“That said, I firmly believe Bluesfest is something worth preserving – not just for today’s music lovers, but for future generations, including those who haven’t even been born yet. The arts, and events like Bluesfest, are worth protecting. It’s something we believe is worth fighting for.
“I firmly believe Bluesfest is something worth preserving for future generations”
“Although we’ve announced that 2025 will be our last festival, it doesn’t have to be. Under current economic conditions, we simply cannot continue and that’s why we have asked for NSW government support.”
Adding that Bluesfest isn’t seeking a “handout” but a “hand up” as the music industry grapples with an ongoing cost-of-living crisis and other challenges, Noble continued, “Bluesfest has contributed over a billion dollars in inbound tourism to the state of NSW. To the government, I ask: is that not worth saving?”
Revealing the numbers from this year’s event, Noble stated that Bluesfest contributed $235 million in inbound tourism to NSW. “This is an amazing achievement, not only for the Byron Shire but for the entire state, demonstrating just how significant Bluesfest is to our local and state economies, yet in 2024 Bluesfest lost money, and we still delivered an amazing result for NSW.”
The statement concluded, “Thank you for your continued support as we work together to keep the spirit of Bluesfest alive.”
Noble’s statement arrives a week after Tamara Smith MP, the local member for Ballina, started an E-Petition to save Bluesfest. Smith called on the NSW Government to offer Bluesfest a rescue package in the petition.
“Bluesfest has contributed over a billion dollars in inbound tourism to NSW. To the government, I ask: is that not worth saving?”
If the petition receives 20,000 signatures, NSW Parliament must address the future of Bluesfest via a debate. As a press release notes, “This is our chance to rally together and ensure that one of Australia’s most iconic music festivals continues to thrive for years to come.”
The ending of Bluesfest is perhaps the most severe blow yet for Australia’s beleaguered festival sector, which has been left in disarray following a flurry of cancellations. Adelaide’s Harvest Rock became the latest Australian festival to pull the plug on its 2024 edition last week, following in the footsteps of other high-profile casualties such as Splendour in the Grass, Groovin The Moo, Coastal Jam, Summerground, Vintage Vibes, Tent Pole: A Musical Jamboree and ValleyWays.
In response, Australia’s House of Representatives has launched an inquiry into the struggling scene.
Bluesfest will return between 17-20 April 2025 with a line-up including Crowded House, Crowded House, Vance Joy, Tones and I, Ocean Alley, Here Come The Mummies, The California Honeydrops, Taj Farrant, Cimafunk, Neal Francis, Pierce Brothers, WILSN, and 19-Twenty.
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Australian government pledges $8.6m to Revive Live
The Australian government has earmarked A$8.6 million (€5.3m) for the Revive Live programme to help ensure the long-term sustainability of the domestic live music sector.
The commitment in the 2024/25 federal budget will provide essential support to live music venues and festivals showcasing Australian acts, and has been welcomed by the country’s music industry.
“This urgent funding comes at a crucial time,” says Dean Ormston, CEO of Australian collection society APRA AMCOS. “Australia has lost more than a quarter of its live music venues and stages across the nation since the pandemic.
“The $8.6 million investment in Revive Live is timely. We know there are many reasons for the continuing closure of iconic venues and festivals across the country: these include substantial increased costs associated with supply chains, soaring public liability insurance premiums, as well as changes in consumer behaviour with cost-of-living pressures.
“Live music venues, especially smaller establishments, find themselves squeezed between rising operational expenses and diminishing profit margins. As a result, many venues are forced to either pass on the increased costs to patrons through higher ticket prices or cut back on live music events altogether. Or worse, they shut their doors and turn off the lights.”
The cash injection comes on the heels of a Senate inquiry into Australia’s national cultural policy, which called for greater assistance for the country’s crisis-hit festival sector.
“This investment will ensure our festivals… can continue to employ thousands of creative workers and showcase Australian artists on our festival stages”
NSW’s Return to Rio became the latest event to call off its 2024 edition earlier this month, citing a 529% rise in police and medical costs, following in the footsteps of the likes of Splendour in the Grass, Groovin the Moo and Falls. Other casualties have included Coastal Jam, Summerground, Vintage Vibes, Tent Pole: A Musical Jamboree and ValleyWays.
“The commitment to funding for festivals and live music will support a vital channel for discovery, ensuring our talented up and coming artists – as well as our established artists – get in front of new and larger audiences faster,” says Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) CEO Annabelle Herd. “ARIA will continue to work with all levels of government to maximise every opportunity for Australian music to reach its true potential.”
Leading Australian independent promoter Untitled Group also backed the move.
“This investment will ensure our festivals such as Pitch Music & Arts, Beyond the Valley, Wildlands and Ability Fest can continue to employ thousands of creative workers and showcase Australian artists on our festival stages,” says the company.
The government has also pledged $7.9m over four years to support people with disability to access and participate in the creative arts.
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UK gov rejects Misogyny in Music recommendations
The UK government has rejected the recommendations made in the Misogyny In Music report, conducted by the Women and Equalities Committee (WEC).
Published in January, the report demanded urgent action to tackle “endemic” misogyny and discrimination in the UK music industry.
The document described the business as a “boys’ club” where sexual harassment and abuse are common, and the non-reporting of such incidents is high. It adds that victims who do speak out either struggle to be believed or may find their career ends as a consequence.
Limitations in opportunity, a lack of support and persistent unequal pay are also encountered by women, the report found. These issues are intensified for women facing intersectional barriers, particularly racial discrimination.
The WEC followed the report with “a series of strong and wide-ranging recommendations” and urged ministers to take legislative steps to amend the Equality Act.
In response, the government said it is “clear that everyone should be able to work in the music industry without being subject to misogyny and discrimination” but stopped short of accepting the recommendations. A number of industry bodies have expressed their disappointment at the response and urged the government to rethink its position.
“We are shocked that the select committee’s recommendations have been rejected in this way”
“The MU are deeply disappointed in the government’s response to the Misogyny In Music report and shocked that the select committee’s recommendations have been rejected in this way,” says Musicians’ Union general secretary Naomi Pohl.
“Women from across the music industry have bravely shared their experiences of misogyny, sexual harassment and abuse as well as other very real barriers they face whilst working in the industry,” she continued. “The government had an opportunity to listen and learn from those lived experiences and implement the changes that the select committee’s report recommended. Instead, the government decided that women’s safety is not a priority. Again, survivors are not being listened to.”
“The Equality Act is out of date and does not reflect how people see themselves or how they work, it needs updating as a matter of urgency. The industry needs increased funding to support targeted action to improve diversity and an improved legislative framework that reflects the way musicians work. The government has committed to neither.”
“We urge the government to rethink its position and implement the recommendations from the report,” she concluded.
The chief executive of the Independent Society of Musicians (ISM) Deborah Annetts adds: “The Misogyny in Music report should have been a moment of immediate and lasting change for the music industry. The report laid bare the incredibly serious problems the sector has and the entirely reasonable steps government should take the rectify them.
“For the government to choose not to make music safer for women is painfully disappointing, if sadly not surprising. The brilliant women who make our music industry what it is deserve better.”
“The Misogyny in Music report should have been a moment of immediate and lasting change for the music industry”
Meanwhile, Safe Gigs For Women comments: “We are saddened to read that this government has rejected the Misogyny in Music report published in January by the Women and Equalities Committee. Sexual violence changes lives – inaction is inexcusable.”
The committee’s recommendations included taking legislative steps to amend the Equality Act to ensure freelance workers have the same protections from discrimination as employees and bring into force section 14 to improve protections for people facing intersectional inequality.
It also recommends the government should legislate to impose a duty on employers to protect workers from sexual harassment by third parties – a proposal the government initially supported and then rejected last year – and says it should urgently bring forward legislative proposals to prohibit the use of non-disclosure and other forms of confidentiality agreements in cases involving sexual abuse, sexual harassment or sexual misconduct, bullying or harassment, and discrimination.
The WEC report adds that the establishment of a single, recognisable body – the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) – will help to shine a light on unacceptable behaviour in the music industry and may reduce the risk of further harm. However, it advises that it is “not a panacea for all of the problems in the industry” and “time will tell whether it has the powers required to drive the changes needed”.
The Misogyny in Music report was discussed by key figures in the industry during ILMC 36. See key takeaways here.
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Finnish biz slams proposed VAT increase on tickets
Finland’s live music associations are sounding the alarm over a proposed increase in VAT on concert tickets.
Under the government’s new budget proposal, value-added tax on tickets for cultural and sports events will rise from 10% to 14% from 1 January 2025.
Trade bodies have called the hike “unreasonable” and have warned that the proposal should not be implemented under any circumstances.
Jenna Lahtinen, executive director of the live music benefit organisation LiveFIN, points out that the industry is still recovering from the losses sustained during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Festivals, concert venues and the entire event industry have just completed their first full year of operation,” she says. “The industry does not need any decisions that weaken growth and profitability right now. An increase in the VAT on entrance tickets would be a hard blow to the industry.”
“The festival sector simply cannot stand it”
Laura Haarala, executive director of the Association of Finnish Program Agencies and Agents, adds: “The increase in the costs of the events industry has been very strong since the coronavirus. Costs have risen considerably higher than the general level of inflation. This has already affected the profitability of the companies in the industry, despite moderate ticket price increases. The increase in value added tax will increase the pressure on price increases or weaken the profitability of program sales.”
Sami Kerman, CEO of the Event Industry Association, says the proposed increase will “inevitably affect demand for events”.
“When Finland is already in recession and the uncertain situation of companies is reflected in the cyclically sensitive event industry, especially corporate events, it would be especially important to take care of the demand for consumer events,” says Kerman. “If we are going to stick to the VAT increase, decisions are needed to stimulate demand accordingly.”
While Kai Amberla, executive director of Finland Festivals, has warned that the festival sector industry “simply cannot stand” the hike.
“The Corona era showed how important festivals and other cultural events are for people,” says Amerblia. “After the pandemic, the economy of art and culture festivals has been faced with huge challenges, but with strict financial management and very moderate ticket price increases, we have been able to get back on the path to growth. It is completely irresponsible that at the same time cultural policy subsidies are being cut with a heavy hand, there is a proposed to increase the value added tax on admission tickets.”
The associations are hoping the government will revoke the decision in the framework rush of spring 2024.
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UK govt rejects CMA’s calls to tighten resale laws
The UK government has rejected the recommendations of the British competition regulator to tighten laws around online ticket touting.
In a 2021 report, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) proposed stronger rules to deal with illegal activity on non-price-capped secondary ticketing sites, including measures to clamp down on the bulk-buying of tickets as well as the practice of “speculative ticketing”, where sellers list tickets they don’t yet own.
Other suggestions included ensuring platforms are fully responsible for incorrect information about tickets that are listed for sale on their websites, and a new system of licensing for platforms that sell secondary tickets that would enable an authority to act quickly and issue sanctions.
However, in the government’s response, business secretary Kevin Hollinrake MP says he is “not convinced” by the need for additional legislative changes.
“I am not convinced that the additional costs that would fall on ticket buyers (as regulatory costs would be passed on) are justified by the degree of harm set out in your report,” says Hollinrake. “This is especially the case when we are already proposing to give the CMA additional administrative powers to protect consumers which the CMA could deploy in the secondary ticketing market.
“However, we propose to keep the position on maximum numbers of ticket resales under review as part of our ongoing monitoring of the legislative landscape in the ticketing market and in the light of technological, enforcement and other market developments.”
“It appears the uncapped market may still provide a service of value to some consumers”
He continues: “The government notes and agrees with the CMA recommendation that there should not be a ban on the uncapped secondary ticket market. Whilst both the way tickets are sold and used are changing and there is a growing authorised capped ticket resale market to help those who can no longer use their purchased ticket, it appears the uncapped market may still provide a service of value to some consumers.”
Hollinrake argues that is “too soon to conclude that the only way forward is further legislation focused on this market”.
“As you are aware, there are a number of improvements to other aspects of consumer law which we have now published in our response to the 2021 consultation,” he adds. “These will be our priority in the immediate future, rather than changes to the secondary ticketing regime specifically.”
“The government has effectively given bad actors a free pass to continue acquiring tickets in bulk to popular events and to engage in speculative and fraudulent selling”
Sharon Hodgson MP, chair of the APPG on ticket abuse, says the group is “struggling to understand” why the government has turned down the CMA’s recommendations.
“In August 2021, the CMA made it clear to the government that a handful of additional safeguards could help reduce the scale of unlawful online ticket touting, and better protect consumers,” says Hodgson. “Nineteen months on, and all their recommendations have been rejected. We are still struggling to understand why, and on what basis.
“Rather than improving the capacity of enforcement agencies to clamp down on malpractice, the government has effectively given bad actors a free pass to continue acquiring tickets in bulk to popular events and to engage in speculative and fraudulent selling. These individuals can make extraordinary profits at the expense of ordinary fans who are left ripped off and out of pocket.
“The UK is rightly proud of its live event industry, but an uncontrolled black market risks harming the consumer experience and wreaking untold damage on the sector overall.”
“The experiences of consumers appear to have been overlooked entirely”
Adam Webb, campaign manager of UK-based campaign against industrial-scale online ticket touting FanFair Alliance, shares similar sentiments.
“In August 2021, the Competition & Markets Authority published a series of common sense recommendations to the government that aimed to further protect consumers from being ripped off by unscrupulous ticket touts and parasitical ticket resale sites,” he says. “These included new measures to clamp down on the unlawful bulk-buying of tickets and large-scale speculative fraud, where rogue traders list tickets for sale that they do not possess. Research by FanFair Alliance has shown these problems remain rampant on certain secondary ticketing platforms.
“Nineteen months down the line, and, despite overwhelming evidence of continuing bad practice, the government has today comprehensively rejected the CMA’s advice – without, we believe, consulting with experts, campaigners or the live music industry.
“The experiences of consumers appear to have been overlooked entirely. Although much progress has been made in recent years to tame the UK’s black market for tickets, FanFair Alliance shares the views of the CMA that further action is still required to tackle these evident and ongoing problems with online secondary ticketing.”
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LIVE CEO Jon Collins sets out key priorities
Jon Collins, the recently appointed CEO of live music industry umbrella group LIVE, has spoken to IQ about the organisation’s key priorities going forward.
Collins was appointed following a 25-year career running representative organisations in the hospitality industry. His most recent role was as chairman of the Institute of Licensing and the National Licensing Forum. He has also held roles including lead author for the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) Night Time Commission for London and as a senior adviser to UK Hospitality, where Collins focused specifically on late night and music licensing issues.
According to Collins, there is “no shortage” of issues facing the sector but in this first instalment of a two-part interview, he focuses on four of the most pressing matters.
VAT reduction, government engagement, post-Brexit touring and the cost of living crisis are top of the CEO’s agenda and, here, he sets out his plan of action to tackle each item.
VAT
“I think a cultural VAT rate of 5% on ticket sales would send a great signal about the government’s attitude to culture and live music within the UK, recognising its role as a driver of tourism, both domestic and international. It would actually boost the government’s Levelling Up agenda too because live music sits right across the country.
“Plus, it would be an economic generator that would make more venues viable and gigs more affordable. It’s going to put more money back in to allow us to keep more money in the industry, which allows us to pay artists better, pay students better, pay bar staff better. And we know that thriving live music venues act as a hub for culture-led regeneration in an area, all sorts of neighbourhoods up and down the country where they’re either defined by an existing music venue or they can be transformed when a venue moves in.
“There are cultural rates in a couple of dozen other countries, which are probably somewhere between 5 and 10%, so we think there’s established precedent elsewhere to say this is a good idea. We need to do another piece of economic research to show that if they cut VAT, the cost will be offset via reduced tax revenue. If you keep venues open and they put on more gigs, you’re getting 5% of a bigger cake than you would have had from the current 20% VAT rate.
“Then there are the other multiplier factors that would benefit the economy but we don’t have those numbers to hand yet, so we need to build that case. If we can get if we can win the arguments with the Treasury, then we might be close to getting the political decision-makers to press the button on it. I would love to think we’re close on this one but my guess would be that it’s a two-year campaign.”
“I think a cultural VAT rate of 5% would send a great signal about the government’s attitude to culture and live music”
Cost of living crisis
“It’s not in any industry’s gift to put more money into the consumer’s pocket, so the first thing we can do add pressure on the government to say they need to take steps to support households so that they do have disposable income and can visit their local gig venues. That money will then go back into the local economy and is a good investment to make. And then you can look at what the government could do to give operators and promoters and festival organisers more leeway to make cheaper tickets available. That brings you back to VAT and also business rates, which is such an outmoded, old fashioned system that just doesn’t work anymore and certainly doesn’t address the balance between the clicks and bricks economies.
“In New York, if a theatre doesn’t have an event on, they don’t pay rates on the auditorium. They only pay rates on the office space that is actually being used or maybe the kiosk on the curbside here. We don’t have that flexibility. So we think now would be a really a sensible idea – if there’s nothing going on in the theatre or a good venue or an arena then give them a break. Otherwise, you end up just constantly trying to make the space being used, which can mean you don’t have the time to actually do any refurbishments in the venue.”
“I want to have half a dozen figures that I can use to say, ‘This is why it’s in your interest to support live music'”
Government
“With LIVE’s multi-year funding and its expanding member base, we’ve definitely sent a message to government that it should take this sector seriously. The thing with policymakers is they change every five minutes. I think the average lifespan of a minister in a role is about 18 months. So you send the message, but you have to keep sending it and refining it and amplifying it.
“Greg [Parmley, former LIVE CEO] worked with Chris [Carey, LIVE chief economist] to produce a robust report very quickly that said this industry has a £4.5 billion GVA and employs 210,000 people. They are take-me-seriously numbers at a time when most people felt our industry wasn’t being taken seriously. If we’re very honest, we probably still feel we’re not taken seriously enough and so that’s another challenge for me is to make sure that government is unable to underestimate us. We will be taking every opportunity we can to put those numbers forward, talk about the industry, how many people we employ, the regeneration that happens, the tourism etc. So we’re talking with multiple partners at the moment to try and pull all of these facts and figures together. I want to have about half a dozen figures that I can use to say, ‘This is why you have to support this sector – this is why it’s in your interest to support live music’.”
“A cultural exemption would just remove all of these [post-Brexit touring] issues”
Brexit
“The LIVE touring group, brilliantly chaired by Craig Stanley, has done a tremendous job of trying to negotiate through government and then the EU for those post-Brexit touring challenges. But there is more to do because there’s not a stable framework.
“We’ve got the dual registration, which works for the larger specialist hauliers for this summer. We think we’re going to get a statutory instrument, probably when parliament comes back after the summer, around September, that will formalise that. Then there has also been progress on splitter vans, ferries and the Eurotunnel.
“But we know none of this solves the issue for a swathe of hauliers in the squeezed middle as we’re viewing them now. There is no obvious solution [for the squeezed middle]. There may be ways that they could find to step into that dual licensing regime, but that’s not cheap and not straightforward. The dual registration also doesn’t help own-account operators, which is the vast majority of British orchestras because of the particular needs of the classical music sector. So we continue to put the pressure on there.
“One of the things that LIVE was able to achieve just before I joined was to get a seat on the domestic advisory group of the trade and cooperation agreement between the UK and the EU. It’s basically the group that advises the UK government as it looks to shape its relationship with the EU going forward. We want to talk about the bigger ask of cultural exemption for artists and the technic technical teams and kit. I think it’d be almost impossible to get that before 2024 which is when the trade and cooperation agreement is next to be negotiated. So, we’ve probably got a couple of years of trying to make wins in a piece-by-piece way, while having that overarching target of the cultural exemption because that would just remove all of these issues.”
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CTS Eventim bolstered by €102m government aid
CTS Eventim will receive “extraordinary” Covid-19 financial aid from the German federal government for the months of November and December 2020.
The Munich-based, pan-European live entertainment confirmed that it would be receiving €102 million in government funding “to strengthen the result for the current financial year and the company’s liquidity”.
The federal government set up financial aid in order to compensate companies, institutions and self-employed people for lost sales during the months in which Germany went into lockdown.
Grants of up to 75% of sales from November and December 2019 were granted proportionally for the number of days of closure during the same months in 2020.
The funding for CTS comes after the company reported that group revenue in 2020 fell by 82.2% year-on-year to €256.8m (2019: €1,443bn). Ticketing and live entertainment were the hardest hit.
“CTS is superbly positioned when live shows return to concert halls and our business revives”
Revenue in the company’s ticketing division for the whole of 2020 was 73.7% lower year-on-year, at €126.6m (2019: €481.6m).
In the live entertainment division, revenue in the whole of 2020 was 86.1% lower year-on-year, at €136.8m (2019: €985.8m).
Despite the sharp drop in sales during 2020, Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, CEO of CTS Eventim said the company is “superbly positioned when live shows return to concert halls and our business revives”.
“In view of the increasing availability of vaccines and rapid tests, and the progress of vaccination campaigns, there are good prospects that our industry can start getting back to normal over the next few months,” he added.
Throughout 2020, the company continued the international expansion of its Eventim Live promoter network, establishing the Gadget abc Entertainment Group in Switzerland, partnering with legendary US promoter Michael Cohl, and acquiring a majority stake in the Barracuda Group in Austria.
In 2021, CTS acquired Berlin-based promoter DreamHaus, led by Matt Schwarz, taking the network up to 36 promoters in 15 countries.
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European markets adopt stringent Covid measures
Across Europe, governments are introducing tough new restrictions in an attempt to battle a second wave of coronavirus.
France has declared a public health emergency after confirming 22,951 cases of Covid-19 yesterday (14 October).
President Emmanuel Macron has reacted by imposing a night-time curfew in the capital Paris and its suburbs, as well as Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Saint-Etienne, Rouen, Toulouse, Grenoble and Montpellier, affecting 20 million people out of a total population of some 67 million.
The 9 pm–6 am curfew will come into effect from Saturday and last for at least four weeks, with a view to extending to six.
“We have to act. We need to put a brake on the spread of the virus,” said president Macron during a television address yesterday.
“We have to act. We need to put a brake on the spread of the virus”
Elsewhere, Germany has announced a “hotspot strategy” to tackle its cases, which are today at the highest daily figure since the start of the pandemic, with 6,638 recorded cases.
If an area records more than 35 new infections per 100,000 people over seven days, masks will become mandatory in all places where people have close contact for an extended period. The number of people allowed to gather will also be limited to 25 in public and 15 in private spaces.
Once a threshold of 50 new infections per 100,000 is exceeded, even tougher restrictions will apply. These include limiting private gatherings to 10 people or two households, and the closure of restaurants after 11 pm.
“I am convinced that what we do now will be decisive for how we come through this pandemic,” said chancellor Angela Merkel.
Earlier today, Spain‘s north-eastern region of Catalonia forced bars and restaurants to close for 15 days. Once again, venues will have to operate at 50% in accordance with the new measures adopted by the Generalitat, after less than a month of operating at 70% in many Catalan municipalities.
All cultural activities must end – and venues must close – before 11 pm. Spectators must always be seated and in a pre-assigned seat.
“I am convinced that what we do now will be decisive for how we come through this pandemic”
Northern Ireland has imposed a four-week circuit breaker lockdown, forcing the closure of non-essential retail outlets, gyms, pools, leisure centres, as well as the hospitality sector – excluding takeaways and deliveries.
Infection rates “must be turned down now or we will be in a very difficult place very soon indeed,” first minister Arlene Foster told lawmakers in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Yesterday, a partial lockdown came into force in the Netherlands, limiting music venues and theatres to a maximum of 30 visitors, in conjunction with the pre-existing metre-and-a-half rule and the rule that no more than four people may attend a performance or concert together.
The new restrictions also include a widespread ban on outdoor events and a ban on alcohol consumption in public areas between 8 pm and 7 am. Discotheques and night clubs must now remain closed until a coronavirus vaccine is on the market.
The measures came into effect yesterday (14 October) and will remain in place for at least two weeks, after which the cabinet will assess the infection rate and decide on next steps.
Czech Republic, which has the highest rate of infection in Europe over the past two weeks at 581.3 cases per 100,000 people, has imposed a three-week partial lockdown, shutting schools, bars and clubs until 3 November.
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Sweden to set aside 80m kr for Covid-secure events
The Swedish government has published a decision on how the extra 1.5bn kr in crisis support for culture will be dispersed.
The live music sector will be granted a total of 881m kr, to be distributed by The State Council for Culture and the Swedish Arts Council.
A portion of that, 80m kr, will be set aside for arranging cultural events under Covid-secure restrictions this year, now that organisers “have the knowledge and commitment to be able to carry out events in a safe manner”.
Up to 400 million kr, will be distributed to organisers as compensation for lost revenue from cancelled or postponed events, following the same protocol as the initial package released in spring.
The new compensation covers the period from June to September and is dependant upon the European Commission’s approval.
“Organisers now have the knowledge and commitment to be able to carry out events in a safe manner”
The package will also enable the Swedish Arts Council to distribute support to professionals whose income depends on live events such as sound, light and stage technicians.
The remaining money from the support fund will be distributed across the cultural sector to organisations including The Film Institute, The Artists’ Committee and The Authors’ Fund.
The news of the distribution comes after the Swedish government proposed an exception to its current coronavirus restrictions which would permit events with a seated audience of up to 500 participants, one metre apart.
The proposition is due to be confirmed today and implemented on 15 October, provided the country’s infection rate doesn’t worsen.
The government previously confirmed that today, restaurants, restaurants and cafés will no longer be restricted by the 50-person limit. Concerts held in restaurants were previously affected not only by the requirements of restaurants but also by the ban on public gatherings and public events, causing confusion.
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Swedish gov proposes relief for live events
The Swedish government has proposed an exception to its current coronavirus restrictions which would permit events with a seated audience of up to 500 participants, one metre apart.
During a press conference on Tuesday (29 September), minister of culture Amanda Lind revealed the new plans, which are due to be confirmed on 8 October and implemented on 15 October, provided the country’s infection rate doesn’t worsen.
Lind also announced that from 8 October, restaurants, restaurants and cafés will no longer be restricted by the 50-person limit.
Concerts held in restaurants were previously affected not only by the requirements of restaurants but also by the ban on public gatherings and public events, causing confusion.
“I appreciate the sense of responsibility, constructiveness and forward-thinking spirit that cultural industries has shown”
“I am grateful for the dialogue the government and I have had with the industries that have been hit hard and I appreciate the sense of responsibility, constructiveness and forward-thinking spirit that cultural industries, sports, religious communities and many others have shown,” says Lind.
“The work has been characterized by a willingness to think creatively and to use every single tool available to create safe events.”
The proposal of the 500-capacity limit and one-metre social distancing has been backed by the Swedish Public Health Agency.
The government will seek further advice from the public health body about ways to ease or tighten restrictions depending on the virus and also look at the possibility of making further exceptions for sitting arrangements.
Last month, Sweden’s government announced an extra 1.5 billion kr (€144m) for culture this year to compensate for the economic consequences caused by the pandemic and ensure the sector’s full recovery.
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