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Scotland’s TRNSMT ramps up sustainability efforts

DF Concerts boss Geoff Ellis has addressed TRNSMT’s decision to ban single-use vapes and reflected on the Scottish festival’s ongoing efforts to improve the gender balance of its lineups.

In a new interview ahead of this weekend’s 50,000-cap event on Glasgow Green, Ellis says fans will also be prohibited from taking in flags, glass and selfie sticks.

“It’s purely from a sustainability point of view in the same way that we’ve banned plastic on site as well,” he tells the BBC. “We try to do what we can in terms of sustainability and we try to encourage the audience to do the same.”

Single-use vapes are already banned at events such as Glastonbury, with the Scottish government also planning to ban the sale and supply of the electronic devices in the country by 1 April next year due to environmental concerns.

“If you get the message out there to people, people listen,” adds Ellis. “If you tell them not to bring stuff, they tend not to bring them. We’ve got a fairly rigorous searching system at the gate with the stewards anyway.”

“I think all festivals do what they can to improve gender balance and at TRNSMT this year, we’ve actually over 50% of acts that identify as female”

TRNSMT, which runs from 12-14 July, has faced frequent criticism for booking non-diverse lineups in the past and will again feature three all-male headliners this year – Liam Gallagher, Gerry Cinnamon and Calvin Harris.

Other artists will include Garbage, Courteeners. Chase & Status, The Snuts, Rick Astley, Tom Grennan, Declan McKenna, Dylan John Thomas, Blossoms, Sugababes, Natasha Bedingfield, Alison Goldfrapp, Lauren Spencer Smith and The Vaccines. While only seven out of the 24 acts on the main stage feature women, the gender split across the wider bill is close to even.

“All three headline acts are male acts, there’s no denying that,” says Ellis. “But I think all festivals do what they can to improve gender balance and at TRNSMT this year, we’ve actually over 50% of acts that identify as female.

“It’s not the three headliners so there’s still work to be done, and work to be done with developing artists. Gerry Cinnamon played the very first TRNSMT on the King Tut’s stage and now he’s headlining this year.

“We’ve got people like Dylan John Thomas and The Snuts coming through on a very similar path as well. It’s very important to help develop new artists.”

“We are really happy with how the inaugural Stirling Summer Sessions went”

Elsewhere, DF is toasting the successful debut of its Summer Sessions in Stirling, which recently joined Edinburgh and Glasgow as hosts of the annual concert series in Scotland.  Held at the foot of Stirling Castle, Stirling City Park, from 27 June to 2 July, acts included Shania Twain, Tom Jones, James Arthur, Busted and Young Fathers.

Stirling’s Business Improvement District reports its footfall data showed a 51.1% increase in visitors over the duration of the event, with local businesses reporting substantial sales growth.

“We are really happy with how the inaugural Stirling Summer Sessions went,” says Ellis. “Hosting such a huge line-up – including the incredible Shania Twain, who played to over 20,000 enthusiastic fans after her memorable Legends Slot at Glastonbury – was truly a highlight for everyone involved and something very special for the area.

“The setting of Stirling City Park, in the shadow of the historic Stirling Castle, provided the perfect backdrop for a great few days of live music.

“We are incredibly thankful to the fans who attended for their energy and passion, and also extend our gratitude to the people of Stirling and all our stakeholders for their unwavering support and dedication, which were instrumental in making this event a success.”

“The industry is seeing increased demand for sustainable buildings and sustainable venue practices”

Also in Scotland, Aberdeen’s P&J Live has unveiled details of a multi-faceted sustainability campaign set to boost the venue’s environmental credentials as part of its commitment to achieving Net Zero carbon emissions target by 2050.

The 15,000-cap venue recently commissioned sustainability specialist Positive Planet to act as its Net Zero consultants and has started the implementation of a Carbon Reduction Plan to actively reduce the site’s carbon footprint. Several complementary initiatives around its energy strategy, transportation, food supply, waste and marketing will further help the venue’s bid to halve greenhouse gas emissions before 2030.

“From conferences to live entertainment, the industry is seeing increased demand for sustainable buildings and sustainable venue practices, with artists such as Coldplay and Billie Eilish actively pushing towards fully sustainable tours,” says P&J Live MD Rob Wicks.

“With everything that was originally designed into the building and wider site, including a low carbon energy centre to power, heat and cool the venue, an anaerobic digestion plant that generates gas from local food and crop waste, as well as our various certifications and initiatives, I feel we are well placed to cater for what artists, event organisers and delegates need as we improve our combined sustainability performance.

“There is still a lot of work to be done, but by measuring our carbon emissions we have a clear benchmark to work from as we commence our carbon reduction plans. It’s also been most encouraging to see the support from the team internally and we work towards consolidating all our green initiatives into a set of meaningful goals and our own in-house pledge.”

 


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Young Fathers to headline and curate 15k-cap gig

Edinburgh hip-hop group Young Fathers are set to headline and curate a huge all-day concert in Scotland.

The 15,000-capacity event will take place on 29 June at Stirling City Park, which is located between Glasgow and Edinburgh and within an hour’s travel time for 50% of Scotland’s population.

The summer show will see the Mercury Prize winners – who have also won the Scottish Album of the Year Award three times – play their biggest headline show in Scotland to date.

DF Concerts is set to promote the event, having already announced that its Summer Sessions concert series would take place in Stirling to coincide with the city’s 900th anniversary.

The 15,000-capacity event will take place on 29 June at Stirling City Park

Shows by Tom Jones, Shania Twait, James Arthur and Busted have been confirmed for City Park between 27 June and 2 July. The Summer Sessions will also take place in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Tickets for the Young Fathers all-dayer will go on sale this Wednesday (27 March), with additional acts to be announced.

Ahead of the 29 June concert, the trio will head to the US for a string of shows in April.

An official announcement from DF Concerts said: “Since the release of their now-legendary mixtapes, Tape One in 2011 and Tape Two in 2013, the latter of which gave Young Fathers their first of three Scottish Album of the Year gongs, the Edinburgh-based band have honed their categorically evasive hybrid sound.

“Young Fathers aren’t like any other live band. Blessed by multiple voices, an eye-popping approach to performance and a four-album-and-two-mixtape-deep catalogue, the radical Afro-Scottish hip-hop group are true game-changers, tearing up the rulebook for what live music can be. Teeming with ideas, with influences from every corner of the musical – and actual – world, the most exciting thing is wondering what Young Fathers will do next on stage.”

 


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DF Concerts to bring Summer Sessions to Stirling

Promoter DF Concerts is bringing Scotland’s long-running Summer Sessions to the foot of Stirling Castle, Stirling City Park in June/July 2024.

The announcement comes just weeks after DF, Live Nation and Cuffe & Taylor announced the live music series will expand to five new destinations in England and Wales next year.

Stirling, which is within an hour’s travel time for 50% of Scotland’s population, joins Edinburgh and Glasgow as Summer Sessions hosts in Scotland. New 15,000 to 30,000-cap events are also set to take place in Bedford’s Bedford Park, Chepstow Racecourse, Derby’s Markeaton Park, Plymouth’s The Hoe and Southampton’s Guildhall Square.

“Summer Sessions has gone from strength to strength with the announcement of more cities hosting events in 2024 and Stirling Summer Sessions will be a very welcome addition to Scotland’s event calendar next year,” says DF CEO Geoff Ellis. “Stirling City Park is a very unique event space, sitting in the dramatic shadow of Stirling Castle and we cannot wait to bring some world-class acts to the city as it celebrates its 900th anniversary.”

Founded in Glasgow back in 2013 and expanded to Edinburgh in 2018, Summer Sessions has showcased acts including The Cure, Simple Minds, Florence & the Machine and Paloma Faith. The first headliners announced for 2024 are Nile Rodgers & Chic – who will play Bedford and Southampton on 7 July and 23 June, respectively – and Jess Glynne, who will perform in Bedford on 28 June.

“Stirling City Park will be a superb venue for the Summer Sessions, as it has been for previous large-scale concerts and events”

“Next year is the Burgh of Stirling’s 900th anniversary so it’s hugely exciting and fitting for us to host the Summer Sessions for the first time as we celebrate this major milestone,” says Stirling Council leader Cllr Chris Kane.

“With its stunning backdrop of Stirling Castle and accessible location near the city centre, Stirling City Park will be a superb venue for the Summer Sessions, as it has been for previous large-scale concerts and events. We can’t wait to welcome music fans from across the country for this major festival and to showcase everything Stirling has to offer.”

Dates and the full programme of events will be be announced soon.

Next year’s Glasgow Summer Sessions will return to Bellahouston Park after a brief hiatus, while Edinburgh Summer Sessions will now take place at the Royal Highland Showgrounds, which hosted Connect Festival, Paolo Nutini and The Killers in 2023.

 


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