festivals | Common News Update

Apr102021 by adminNo Comments

Which festivals are going ahead and when do live gigs restart?

Entertainment

Music fans have had a disappointing 12 months with festivals and gigs cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.But with the silver lining of lockdown easing on the horizon, many will be hoping they can get back into shows in the near future. Boris Johnson's COVID-19 roadmap says that from 17 May, fans may be able to get their first taste of live music for more than a year. No earlier than 21 June, as long as things go to plan, all limits on social contact will be removed. While some issues around mass events are still to be ironed out, the government is hoping to reopen nightclubs and lift restrictions on large gatherings such as festivals at this point.Below is a rolling list of live music shows - both festivals and touring acts - that have already revealed plans to hold events ...

Feb242021 by adminNo Comments

Reading and Leeds festivals will go ahead in August, organisers confirm

Entertainment

The Reading and Leeds music festivals will go ahead in late August, organisers have confirmed.Stormzy, Post Malone and Liam Gallagher are confirmed acts to headline the twin events, which will run on the August Bank Holiday weekend from 27-29 August. It follows the publication of England's roadmap out of lockdown, which says the government plans to remove all legal limits on social contact by 21 June.Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world In a post on Reading and Leeds festivals' official Twitter page, organisers said: "Following the government's recent announcement, we can't wait to get back to the fields this summer. LET'S GO." ...

Feb132021 by adminNo Comments

Viola Beach: ‘We should have seen them headlining the biggest festivals’

Entertainment

On 13 February 2016, Viola Beach were on the cusp of stardom.The four-piece band were in Sweden, having just played their first international gig.Everything was just starting to fall into place, with sold-out shows and slots at some of the UK's biggest festivals.But in the early hours of the morning, Jack Dakin, River Reeves, Kris Leonard, Tomas Lowe and their manager Craig Tarry were killed in a car crash in Stockholm that was described by the coroner as an "awful tragedy".Five years on, Lisa Leonard, whose 20-year-old son Kris was the band's frontman, said she took comfort from knowing their final hours were some of the happiest of their lives. "I want people to remember them having fun, because that's what they were doing. "I often think about how they must have felt that night. "Things...

May292020 by adminNo Comments

We Are One: How the world’s film festivals came together

Entertainment

A foreign language film about the social divide in South Korea wouldn't normally scream box office hit. But after Bong Joon-ho's film Parasite won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival last May, it set it on a path to ultimately winning the best picture Oscar nine months later. And that's the thing about film festivals - they may be industry events largely attended by critics, journalists and filmmakers, but their influence can be huge. The buzz a movie generates at Sundance, Toronto or Venice can determine whether a distributor picks it up for a wider public release - and put it firmly on the radar of awards season.Of course, the coronavirus pandemic has meant most of this year's festivals cannot go ahead - so they are teami...

May72020 by adminNo Comments

Why 2020 ‘is a write-off’ for gigs and festivals

Entertainment

Concerts and festivals will not go ahead in the UK until at least next year, a top virologist and music boss are warning.Many major music, film and comedy events, like Glastonbury, Eurovision, Cannes and Edinburgh Fringe, have already been scrapped, postponed or moved online due to Covid-19 concerns.But others, including Reading and Leeds, and the BFI London Film Festival, remain in the diary.Dr Chris Smith believes it is "too optimistic" to think such social gatherings will take place."We won't even have got a vaccine into people by then," the Cambridge University lecturer tells the BBC."The government has cost the country billions to get the transmission rate right down, and we know that a very good catalyst for spreading the t...