Festival News
Festival Insights reports that Volt Festival in Hungaryhas launched a campaign to make the event more environmentally-friendly. Called GreenFestival, the scheme sees festival-goers given a GreenFestival bag when they get their FestiPay card, by giving a mandatory deposit of 500HUF. The ones who gather and return their waste will not only get back the deposit, but also receive a certificate of merit and a T-shirt coupon worth 500HUF. A spokesman said the aim of this campaign is to show the audience that they are the source of action when it comes to saving the environment.
Crawl Promotions, the company behind North London's long-standing multi-venue music festival The Camden Crawl, has been put into liquidation by its organisers a week and a half after the event's 2014 edition and it seems that many of the bands who performed this year will lose money. An official statement issued via the Camden Crawl website this morning reads: "Due to ticket sales falling far short of expectations for this year's event, Crawl Promotions Ltd, the Company which promotes the Camden Crawl, is unable to pay its debts in full to any suppliers, staff or the Company's directors and shareholders. As it stands the total debts substantially exceed the value of the assets of the Company. Because of this completely unanticipated situation and after nearly ten years of successfully promoting the Camden Crawl festival, it is with great regret and sadness that there has been no other option than to convene meetings for the purpose of placing the Company into Creditors' Voluntary Liquidation". An Insolvency Practitioner has been appointed and Meetings of Shareholders and Creditors are scheduled for the 11th July 2014.
Mike Weatherley MP, who has been particularly vocal on music business and intellectual property issues in his time in parliament, has announced he will not re-stand at next year's General Election. The member of parliament for Hove and Portslade since 2010, Weatherley worked in both the music and film industries before entering politics. He has been very involved in the All Party Parliamentary Groups on music and ticketing, and last year became IP Advisor to Prime Minister David Cameron as well as running the 'Rock The House' band competition which saw winners play live in the Speakers Rooms at the House of Commons in London. Having recently had a battle against cancer, Mike said: “This has been an exceptionally difficult decision to make. It has been a remarkable opportunity to represent the wonderful residents of Hove and Portslade in Parliament and I look forward to continuing to do this until the election near year.”
A heartless festival goer has left behind a DOG at the Glastonbury Festival. The white lurcher was found in one of the 5,000 tents abandoned after the iconic Somerset festival ended. The dog was renamed 'Dolly' after Glastonbury headliner Dolly Parton and Dolly is now recovering at the Happy Landings animal shelter in Pylle, Somerset - and rescue workers are looking for answers. A spokesperson said: "She is a sweet-natured older lurcher, and clearly very stressed to find herself in this predicament" adding "We had hoped that an owner would come forward but there has still been nothing" and "How anyone could do such a thing is beyond me". Dolly was found by Wookey grandfather Colin Williams who found lonely Dolly in a stifling hot tent. Mr Williams had been let on the Glastonbury Festival site on Tuesday morning to collect an abandoned tent for his grandchildren to play in and he confirmed the dog had been left with some food and probably a small amount of water. The Glastonbury Festival does not allow dogs on site. Dolly has offered to adopt Dolly!
The decision by Dublin City Council to grant a licence for only three of the five sold-out Garth Brooks’ shows at Croke Park has prompted a flurry of comments in Ireland. Promoter's Aiken Promotions announced the shows in February after lengthy negotiations - they would have been the only shows Brooks is playing worldwide this summer.As of the 8th July, legal proceedings over concerts in Croke Park were formally lodged in the High Court by a local resident Brian Duff, whose solicitor is named as Anthony Fay, the solicitor acting for some residents of Croke Park. The case is against Aiken Promotions (Ireland) Ltd and Páirc an Chrócaigh Teoranta (Croke Park Ltd) and seeks injunctive relief preventing the holding of the three shows which had secured approval from Dublin City Council. The singer said last week he would perform the five concerts, for which 400,000 tickets have been sold, or none at all. Dublin's Lord Mayor, Christy Burke, said he had made last ditch attempts over the weekend to have the shows put on at the Aviva Stadium on the capital's southside instead. But he was told by promoters Aiken Promotions and the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), which runs Croke Park, that it was logistically impossible. Ireland's Taoiseach Enda Kenny said 'I hope the two axed Garth Brooks Croke Park concerts can be saved' but said that he could not intervene in the decision by the City Council which approved concerts on the 25th, 26th and 27th July, but not the Monday 28th July and Tuesday 29th