This message was sent to ##Email##
To advertise in this publication please click here
|
|
|
| Special Note: Following an unprecedented year of global impact by the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, on our own industry and many others, we look to the year ahead with new signs of hope and positivity. That noted, there are still many challenges to be faced, support to be provided, and creative new directions to be explored together. During the weeks and months and year ahead, we will continue to use the IFEA Event Insider to provide a broad representation of global news coverage, as well as access to the latest information about other important programs and critical resources, government support, vaccine development and distribution, research surveys, et al., with a goal of bringing our industry, our communities and our world back together again, as soon as possible, safely and sustainably.
|
|
|
Drones light up Dublin, Ireland on St Patrick's Day
Reuters via Yahoo News
The ultra lightweight 340-gram (3/4 pound), purpose-built drones weaved into different shapes and alternated colours as part of a show entitled "Orchestra of Light."
Organized by Tourism Ireland, Dublin City Council and the St Patrick's Festival, the show incorporated drone animations by festival designer Aiden Grennelle.
|
|
Citing health and safety, Oregon's Portland Rose Festival won't feature popular outdoor mainstays
KGW-TV
California theme park visitors have a few weeks to practice using their inside voices before attractions begin reopening in April and potentially usher in a new "no screaming" rule to combat the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19.
The 2021 Portland Rose Festival will not include some of the event's most popular outdoor events, including City Fair and the Grand Floral Parade, but will still feature Virtual Fleet Week and the second annual Porch Parade.
The theme of this year's festival is Hope Reigns.
|
|
Kansas City, Missouri's Boulevardia cancels a 2nd year in a row because of COVID, looks to 2022
The Kansas City Star
Boulevardia has been canceled for the second consecutive year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials of the popular urban street festival announced Tuesday that they expect it to return June 17-18, 2022.
"When Boulevardia comes back, we want it to be the best celebration possible for our citizens, artists, partners, staff and the entire Kansas City community," organizers said in a news release.
|
|
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania lifts ban on some large outdoor events, applications now accepted
KYW-TV
Major outdoor events like concerts, festivals and parades are coming back to Philadelphia. The city announced Tuesday that the Office of Special Events and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation will begin accepting special event permit applications starting March 16.
The Streets Department will begin accepting permit applications for block parties and street festivals on April 15.
|
|
'Everything is moving along great': Milwaukee, Wisconsin's Summerfest bookings filling up for September dates
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Summerfest in Milwaukee is still a go for this September, officials with parent company Milwaukee World Festival Inc. said at a board of directors meeting Thursday morning.
With COVID-19 vaccinations underway, and President Joe Biden suggesting all American adults will be eligible for a vaccine by May 1, bookings for the country's largest music festival "in the last few months (have) started to open up," Bob Babisch, Summerfest's vice president of entertainment, said at the board meeting.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
As the Events & Entertainment industry returns to work, it will be necessary to develop a Health & Safety strategy to make customers, guests and performers feel comfortable again in “mass gatherings”.
Learn how Aggreko Clean Air can help you provide your customers with safe and healthy engineered HVAC solutions.
|
|
2 major music festivals have announced their dates for in-person revelry this fall
TimeOut
Just when we were pondering when live music was going to come back (and hoping it would be sooner rather than later), two major music festivals in the United States have announced new dates for 2021.
Outside Lands, which traditionally takes places in August in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, will move to Halloween weekend (from October 29 to 31).
|
|
Coachella, Stagecoach music festivals postponed again until 2022, report says
WITI-TV
Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals have been postponed again, according to a report published Wednesday night by Variety.
Event promoter Goldenvoice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The move, once officially confirmed, would be the fourth time the dates of Coachella have been rescheduled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
|
|
New York City's St. Patrick Day parade, Mass live-streamed amid pandemic
WABC-TV
Millions around the nation are celebrating St. Patrick's Day Wednesday, the second in a row to be dramatically altered by the coronavirus pandemic.
St. Patrick's Cathedral is open at 25% capacity, but Masses were once again being live-streamed.
The annual celebration of the patron saint of Ireland was not held in person last year either, as the pandemic began to shut down New York.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Talk across your city or venue seamlessly.
Connect your event to security and staff quickly & efficiently, with radios that are user friendly, durable and cost effective.
Get a year rental free! (new customers only)
Call for terms & conditions - 800-774-6535 Ask for Ann
|
|
When Broadway will reopen and what shows you can see first
New York Post
It's been almost exactly a year since Broadway went dark due to the coronavirus pandemic — but now there's light on the horizon of the Great White Way.
Broadway insiders are finally looking toward reopening after months of delayed optimism. But it will still be a while before you can see shows again, said Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League.
|
|
How virtual, drive-in and drive-thru events kept us connected during a pandemic
Los Angeles Daily News
When the coronavirus pandemic hit in March 2020 and in-person gatherings were shut down entirely to slow the spread, a myriad of industries quickly pivoted to livestreaming or socially distanced drive-in or drive-thru events.
As event and concert promoters, county fairs and other venue operators navigated the ever-evolving county and state health department COVID-19 protocols to ensure safety of their patrons, these activities became more innovative and began to pop up consistently throughout Southern California.
|
|
Ottawa, Canada, concert with rapid COVID-19 screening a dry run for bigger shows
CTV News
An outdoor concert at Lansdowne Park later this month will feature rapid COVID-19 screening and could serve as a dry run for larger concerts later this year.
Organizers are calling the "Long Road Back" on March 27 the first event of its kind in Canada, and say it could pave the way to safely reopening the live music industry.
|
|
Ottawa, Canada, festivals still waiting to see if the show can go on
CBC News
Vaccinations for COVID-19 might be picking up speed, but festival organizers say it's still too early to say what kind of show they'll be putting on this summer.
The Ottawa International Jazz Festival has four possible versions in the works, but even the best case would look nothing like a pre-COVID event, according to executive producer Catherine O'Grady.
|
|
UK festivals 2021: Which ones are still going ahead?
BBC News
Last year, Covid-19 wiped out the U.K.'s summer festival season. Only a handful of shows were able to take place, and most of them were in car parks or socially-distanced green field sites.
This year, organisers are a little more optimistic. With the vaccination programme under way and mass testing available, several events have put tickets on sale, confident that fans will be allowed to mosh, pogo and stage-dive with the risk of injury, rather than disease, their main concern.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Increase Your Revenue With BlastPass!
Ready to take your event to the next level? Saffire's cashless card & wristband increases your revenue and allows customers to have fun without the hassle of a credit card, cash or tokens, making it a hassle-free addition to any event!
|
|
Edinburgh, Scotland's, festivals set to have their funding protected for the next 12 months
The Scotsman
A £4.7 million package, which also maintains support for many of the city's arts venues, is expected to be agreed next week despite huge uncertainty over what live events will be able to take place in the city this year. Council chiefs say they want to make sure the city's cultural sector is in "the best possible place" to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
|
|
Hungary's Sziget cancels early summer music festivals
Reuters
Hungary's Sziget, which organises some of the largest music festivals in Europe, said it would decide in the coming weeks whether to hold its main event in August in Budapest after it cancelled two other festivals due to the pandemic. The company cancelled the VOLT Festival, an event in the Western corner of Hungary due in June, and July's Balaton Sound at Lake Balaton and said these would next take place in 2022.
|
|
These cherry blossom hanami festivals in Tokyo, Japan are cancelled this year
Time Out
Spring has come early to Tokyo as cherry blossom season is officially upon us. Although we are extremely excited to see the beautiful blossoms, sakura season will look a little different this year due to Covid-19 restrictions. Many major cherry blossom festivals have already been cancelled and some Tokyo parks have also discouraged hanami (flower viewing) picnics in order to prevent large gatherings.
|
|
Applications for Expo 2020 Dubai, UAE Volunteers Programme close on March 31
Gulf News
Would you like to join a corps of volunteers who will welcome visitors to the first World Expo in the region? Applications for the Expo 2020 Dubai Volunteers Programme are set to close by March 31, the Expo Press Office announced on Tuesday.
Set to take place from October 1 until March 31 next year, Expo 2020 Dubai will showcase the greatest innovations, breakthroughs and ideas from around the planet and bring the world together in a spirit of hope and optimism under its theme of "Connecting Minds, Creating the Future."
|
|
Fire festival incidents kill 10, injure hundreds in Iran
Arab News
Mishaps during an annual fire festival in Iran have left at least 10 people dead and hundreds more injured around the country, state TV reported Wednesday.
State TV reported the casualties Wednesday but news outlets including the semiofficial ISNA said the deaths happened over a period of several weeks. Many of the deaths and injuries occurred during the production and preparation of firecrackers, according to reports.
|
|
Disney to reopen 2 California theme parks on April 30 at 15 percent capacity
Skift
Walt Disney Co's two theme parks in California will reopen on April 30 to a limited number of guests, the company said on Wednesday, over a year after they closed to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Attendance will initially be capped at roughly 15% of capacity, Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek said on CNBC television.
|
|
Missouri's Silver Dollar City opening on time for 2021 season
The Joplin Globe
A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, there doesn't appear to be anything that will keep Silver Dollar City from opening Wednesday.
In 2020, as the country moved into lockdown, the coronavirus delayed the theme park's opening for three months. When it did open in mid-June, it did so with safety measures in place and an attendance limit of 50% of park capacity.
|
|
Tokyo Olympics organizers announce COVID-safe plans for upcoming torch relay
People Magazine
Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics have outlined new guidelines and COVID-19 safety procedures for the prestigious torch relay event beginning next week.
On Tuesday, members of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee said in a news conference that spectators will be allowed to watch the upcoming torch relay as long as they follow specific COVID-19 rules, according to the Associated Press.
|
|
March Madness: How the NCAA will handle men's and women's teams with COVID-19 issues
USA Today
Duke and Virginia were forced to withdraw from the men's Atlantic Coast Conference college basketball tournament on consecutive days and Kansas pulled out of the Big 12 tournament because of positive tests, raising concerns about the protocols for COVID-19 and how they will impact the playing of the men's and women's NCAA tournaments.
As more teams continue to experience problems with outbreaks, it is becoming clear that the possibility of the pandemic affecting the tournaments remains high.
|
|
Iditarod musher tests positive for COVID-19, removed from race
Alaska Public Media
The Iditarod has announced its first coronavirus case, in a musher at a major mid-race checkpoint.
Gunnar Johnson of Minnesota tested positive for COVID-19 at the checkpoint in McGrath, near race mile 310, more than a third of the way into the Iditarod.
Johnson, 52, was asymptomatic, according to a statement from the Iditarod Wednesday night.
|
|
Help us 'Bring Back Events'
IFEA messaging available to use and share with your network
IFEA
The fastest way through the current global pandemic, with a return to normalcy for all global events, is to take a leadership role in encouraging all of those whom we influence – locally, nationally and globally – to take the steps and do the right thing, starting with each individual, that will bring this COVID-19 virus under control.
In support of that leadership initiative, the IFEA has created a series of "Bring Back Events" messages that we invite you to use and share on your own web sites and social media platforms. Just download our predesigned and ready-to-use messages. We also have a series of event-oriented masks that can be ordered here.
|
|
Travel industry pushes for PPP loan program extension
TravelPulse
Lawmakers are working to extend the Paycheck Protection Program for struggling small business owners.
The popular loan program is set to be shuttered on March 31; however, many would like that deadline to be extended. A new bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives that would give the program another two months.
|
|
Business groups seek PPP extension as March deadline looms
The Hill
Business groups aren't done lobbying Congress for more coronavirus relief, with new pleas to extend a popular small-business program that's set to expire in just two weeks.
The March 31 application deadline for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has trade groups pressing for swift action from lawmakers less than a week after President Biden signed a $1.9 trillion rescue package into law.
|
|
How just a few days cost some small businesses thousands on their PPP forgivable loans
CNBC
For some of the smallest businesses that applied for forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, waiting just a few days or weeks would've gotten them thousands of dollars more.
But they had no way of knowing what was coming. The Biden administration in late February announced a slew of changes to the loan program, which offered forgivable loans in return for keeping employees on a company's payroll, after it reopened in January with $284 billion in funding.
|
|
US has issued 90 million stimulus checks worth $242 billion, Treasury says
CNBC
The U.S. has thus far issued 90 million stimulus checks worth a collective $242 billion as part of President Joe Biden's landmark $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, according to a report released Wednesday by multiple government agencies. The first batch of payments were mostly sent by direct deposit, and some recipients started receiving their checks this past weekend, the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service announced.
|
|
|
|
|
7701 Las Colinas Ridge, Ste. 800, Irving, TX 75063
|
