Cloud-based events payment platform TicketCo has appointed Paul Carey, formerly general manager of ’80s festival Rewind, as key account manager in the UK.

Carey, who has also worked as a publicist for artists including Elton John, David Bowie and the Who, is charged with driving growth in Norway-based TicketCo’s UK festival division.

TicketCo launched in the UK last year and has since secured clients including Coalition Agency, Ministry of Sound, Tobacco Dock, Junkyard Golf and several sports teams. The company also has offices in Poland and Sweden.

Carey comments: “I’m joining TicketCo at an exciting time; the company is making excellent progress in taking the UK ticketing and event payments market into the new digital world.

“There is so much scope to drive positive change in the festival industry”

“There is so much scope to drive positive change in the festival industry and TicketCo will continue to be one of the frontrunners of the digital disruption in the coming years.”

TicketCo’s technology is compatible with Android and iOS devices and enables organisers to push offers on food, drink and merchandise in advance of events. The system can also send QR codes to eventgoers’ smartphones, which are then scanned at entry points to gain access.

David Kenny, TicketCo UK country manager, says: “Paul is a fantastic addition to our growing team of industry experts. His track record in the festival and music industries is incredible and we believe he will make a real impact in this space with TicketCo.”

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Live Nation’s LN-Gaiety Holdings and SJM Concerts have jointly acquired a controlling stake in the UK’s Rewind Festival, the ’80s themed music festival which takes place annually in Henley-on-Thames (Rewind South) and Cheshire (Rewind North), England, and Perthshire, Scotland (Rewind Scotland).

First held in 2009 (as ‘80s Rewind Festival’), Rewind was formerly owned by Impresario Festivals and was acquired by Global in October 2016. It was one of a handful of events not acquired by either Broadwick Live or Superstruct Entertainment when Global divested its festival assets earlier this year.

Artists who played Rewind 2019 include Thin Lizzy (Rewind North), UB40 (North and South), Bryan Ferry (Scotland), Bananarama (North), Michael Bolton (South) and Foreigner (Scotland).

The festivals will return next summer.

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Following record temperatures in July and one of the hottest Glastonbury’s ever, the weather is taking a turn for the worse in the UK with heavy rain, high winds and storms causing problems for event organisers.

Houghton festival (10,000-cap.), due to kick off today (8 August) in Norfolk, is the latest event to take a weather-provoked tumble, following the cancellation of Vision Nine’s Boardmasters festival yesterday and Rewind North earlier this month.

The UK’s met office have predicted torrential rain and 60 mile-per-hour winds, warning of flash flood risks.

“Overnight, weather conditions onsite at Houghton festival have dramatically worsened and are set to deteriorate further into the weekend,” read a statement issued by organisers this morning.

“Tragically, following this morning’s reports and further consultation with authorities, health and safety and all the festival directors, the decision has been made to cancel Houghton 2019.”

The Houghton organisers, consisting of the team behind north Wales’ Gottwood festival and DJ Craig Richards, say they are “utterly devastated” to cancel the festival.

“Public safety is the absolute priority and if it comes to it, evacuation or cancellation would be considered to ensure the safety of those in attendance”

Organisers of 66,000-capacity Boomtown, which opened its gates yesterday, say “severe weather plans” are in place to prepare for conditions on Friday.

“Our experienced team have been constantly monitoring the weather forecast,” a Boomtown representative tells IQ.

“Public safety is the absolute priority and if it comes to it, evacuation or cancellation would be considered to ensure the safety of those in attendance.”

The Boomtown team has advised festivalgoers against putting up gazebos or windbreaks in the campsites.

Lauryn Hill, Prophets of Rage, the Streets and Groove Armada are among acts to play at the festival near Winchester in the south of England.

Production experts at the ILMC Production Meeting have often discussed the measures that ought to be taken to ensure safety and the smooth-running of events in the case of extreme weather conditions.

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The UK’s Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) added three new board members at its 2019 annual general meeting (AGM) today.

Rewind Festival’s Katt Lingard, Kevin Moore of Vision Nine (Boardmasters and NASS) and Nozstock’s Rob Nosworthy were all added to the trade body’s board of directors, increasing the number of board members to 11 from eight. They join representatives from AIF members Deer Shed, ArcTanGent, Kilimanjaro Live, Broadwick Live, Greenbelt, Standon Calling, Liverpool Sound City and the Fair.

The AGM was AIF’s first as a fully autonomous body, having separated from the Association of Independent Music (AIM) in April 2018. The event welcomed guest speaker Ellie Giles from Step Music Management, who spoke about independent approaches to artist management and the importance of the live sector and festivals to artist development.

“We’re delighted to welcome Katt, Rob and Kevin, all of whom bring a range of skills and unique perspectives to the table, to the AIF board”

At the meeting, AIF CEO Paul Reed delivered an overview of the association’s first year as an independent company. In the year since becoming independent from AIM, AIF celebrated the introduction in May 2018 of a standalone PRS festival tariff, which it had pushed for and championed over the previous three years. It launched the Drastic on Plastic campaign, which sees member festivals committing to eliminating single-use plastic by 2021, this year.

Commenting on the new appointments, Reed says: “We’re delighted to welcome Katt, Rob and Kevin to the AIF board, all of whom bring a range of skills and unique perspectives to the table. With a membership of 65 festivals from 500 to 60,000 capacity, it is important that the complete range is represented. These are excellent appointments and it feels like we’re in a strong place going into 2019–20.”

AIF now has more than 65 members, with recent additions including Love Saves the Day, Mutations, Walthamstow Garden Party and We Are Fstvl.

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Global has expanded its UK festival footprint to a total of 11 events with the acquisition of South West Four, Field Day, Boardmasters, Rewind, Y Not and Truck festivals, and purchased a further stake in Snowbombing/Festival №6 promoter Broadwick Live.

With Broadwick Live, Global – comprising Global Radio (Heart, Capital, Smooth, Classic FM), Global Television (Capital TV, Heart TV) and Global Entertainment, which includes music publishing, management and live and touring divisions – already promotes, in addition to Austrian music and ski festival Snowbombing and Welsh boutique event Festival №6, Standon Calling, Glass Butter Beach and Lost Village, as well Croatian electronic festival Electric Elephant.

The company declined to provide details on its new holding in Broadwick Live, although the original deal, announced last July, was described as involving a “significant strategic stake”.

South West Four, Field Day, Boardmasters and ’80s festival Rewind, in Henley, were previously part of the Impresario portfolio, while Y Not and Truck were owned by Tramlines promoter Count of Ten.

“Working with Global … we have a strong partner that offers us unbelievable support and shares our goal to build an international festival business”

Global says a focus for it and Broadwick Live (which have a “stronger partnership” following today’s deal) will be to export their festivals, in partnership with big-name international brands, to new markets, following the template of Snowbombing, which will hold its first Canadian edition, sponsored by Coors, next year.

Sam Bush, director of Global’s live and touring division, says: “We took a stake in Broadwick Live just over a year ago. We’ve had an incredible first year working together, working hard to bring in some of Europe’s leading music festivals, as well as some of the most innovative and well-loved up-and-coming festivals. We have a shared ambition to grow the portfolio, and we look forward to doing this with Gareth and the team at Broadwick Live, as well as the founders and managers of the festivals we have acquired.”

Gareth Cooper, CEO of Broadwick Live, adds: “These are exciting times. Working with Global has helped us to realise our ambitions and then some. We have a strong partner that offers us unbelievable support and shares our goal to build an international festivals business, starting with our first venture in North America [Snowbombing Canada] next year. What we have announced today is just the beginning.”

Global launched Global Entertainment, headed up initially by former AEG CEO Randy Phillips, in February 2015.

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