EFA 2014 Showguide

SHOWGUIDE

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CONTENTS 04 Welcome

27 Yes Group H&S Innovation Award

06 The European Festival Market Report 2014

29 Best Medium-Sized European Festival

13 Best Small European Festival

31 Promoter Of The Year

15 Best Indoor Festival

32 Best European Festival Line-Up

17 The Green Operations Award

33 Best Headliner

19 Newcomer Of The Year

35 Best Major European Festival

21 Artists’ Favourite European Festival

36 The Lifetime Achievement Award

23 Best New European Festival

40 Award For Excellence And Passion

25 Festival Anthem Of The Year

41 Thank You!

WELCOME...

To the European Festival Awards 2014 – a day and night of reflection, recognition and revelry.

Now it’s time to look back over what has been another incredible festival year, take stock and plan for the season ahead.

What an exciting time it is to be in the festival industry.

Never before have event organisers enjoyed such direct and close relationships with their audiences, facilitated by new technology and ever-more proficient displays of fan engagement.

In an era of heightened competition, when they have never been needed more, these developments are superpowers in the hands of festival promoters, enabling them to build unparalleled customer loyalty, provide significant new value to their sponsors and capitalise on lucrative secondary revenue streams.

The astonishing 100% increase in votes cast in this year’s awards (1.2 million votes in total) is evidence that these forces are already in play, and we hope this is a positive portent for the future strength of the industry. With more festivals having applied to participate in these awards than ever before, confidence in the market certainly appears to be more stable.

We hope you enjoy the show and hope you find the opportunity to gather under the one roof with your peers valuable. This is a great time to review the past year, considering the successes, challenges and opportunities ahead.

the exceptional quality of events in Europe’s festival market today.

We want to extend a massive thanks to all who have been involved with the Awards, not just this year, but also for the ten preceding it. We are honoured to be able to host these events for you all and are truly grateful for the opportunity.

Thank you for flying the flag for music festivals in Europe.

Here’s to an exuberant and worthy celebration of the greatest festival scene in the world.

The Festival Awards Team

To those who have won awards, congratulations – they are all well-deserved. If you haven’t won, then commiserations, but everyone who made it to the finalists in each category should be brimming with pride.

The competition this year was fiercer than ever, reflecting

Christof Huber Tom Lawson Justin Gawne Chris McCormick

Steve Jenner Michael Baker Amy Wright James Drury

Meet the European festival-goers in 2014

Their average age is 23% are over 30 years old

8% are over 40

54% 46%

40% are single and unattached

26

53% are aged between 18 and 25

Their average salary is â‚Ź12,300 per year

45% earn less than â‚Ź10,000 per year

10% are married

22% have children

Certain figures in this infographic have been omitted for brevity’s sake. The complete data will be available on Festival Insights in the near future

Promoters take note!

This is what your customers enjoy the most when attending festivals:

friends are attending

The music 53 % quality of production/organisation

Good previous experiences at the event

The headliners

The Overall Line-Up

The things that matter most to your customers are:

Escaping from normal life 21 % Hanging out with friends 12 % Meeting new people 6 % Love of the great outdoors 6 %

the home comforts they miss the most

Getting back to basics 3 %

Clean, flushable toilet 28 %

Getting trashed 1 %

Bed 18 % Having to walk a long way 5 %

Shower 8 % Phone charger 5 %

Restrictions on certain items 6 %

internet 4 %

Favourite bands clashing

6%

The price of tickets

7%

The price of food and drink

9%

34% did not miss anything! what would stop them coming back next year Change of venue - 3%

Queues and overcrowding 10 %

5% increase in the price of alcohol - 5% A 5% increase in the ticket price - 19%

Less high profile headline artistS - 30%

No showers or clean toilets 13 % Wet and muddy conditions 14 %

Fewer acts / stages - 19%

21% would not be put off by any of the above

And their biggest festival gripes:

Consumer Behaviour & Preferences

BUYING TICKETS

69% of Festival-goers think tickets are reasonably priced 20% think they offer great value for money 42% took advantage of an early bird offer this year 4% purchased VIP / premium tickets 65% rated their ticket purchasing experience as good (or better)

40% travelled by car, shared with 2 or more other people 31% travelled by train or coach

64% of Festival-goers disapprove of secondary ticketing 24% want secondary ticketing to be banned 19% attended fewer festivals because of the tough economic climate

39% attended a festival out

Just 2.5% thought sponsor brand activations

24% regularly

47%

11%

left their tent behind at a festival this year

of festival-goers smoke

27% could not remember any of the sponsors at the events they attended 88% were happy with the selection of food available 36% thought it was excellent!

22%

57%

thought food was over-priced

15% thought it was a total rip-off

67%

like pizza

28%

of festivalgoers like to eat vegetarian food

have taken drugs at a festival

The 5 most popular foods at festivals are, in order: pizza, sandwiches, hot dogs, kebabs, and burgers & chips

the average attendee’s total expenditure prior to the event (not including the ticket)

31%

bought an official festival t-shirt

24%

bought an official band t-shirt at a festival

€119.04

Festival Accommodation Choices

€85.27

the average attendee’s total expenditure on-site

the average attendee’s daily expenditure on FOOD at a festival

€18.76

Standard Camping 54.4% Hotel off-site 20.5% 17%

51%

paid to use a premium toilet facility at festivals this year

think more festivals should make these facilities available

Camper Van 4.0% Glamping/ VIP Camping 2.6%

63% of people who paid for premium accommodation felt it offered good value for money 66% would pay for premium accommodation again in future

tside of their own country this year

ns detracted from the events they attendeD They’re Passionate About Music

54% always pay for their music 31% download on iTunes 45% stream on Spotify

They like a drink

€24.00 =the average attendee’s daily expenditure on alcohol at a festival

the €€3.35 = ice r p optimum s want r e o g l festiva r a pint of fo to pay -site beer On

67% thought drinks were over-priced

These are the top 8 improvements ATTENDEES would like to see you offer:

47% still buy CD’s 26% like metal 36% like reggae

76% like rock music

44% like dance music 54% like indie 49% like pop

Discounts on group orders (6 or more drinks) Free public Wi-Fi in the vicinity of the bar Phone charging facilities The ability to pay with your debit or credit card The ability to pay with funds loaded onto your wristband A wider selection of beers A wider selection of cocktails A wider selection of wines

34% go to 26% go festivals with an open budget

AY FOR WAYS TO P E IT R U O V FA L, BY A FESTIVA T A K IN R D : A USED THEM THOSE WHO

with a fixed budget but usually end up spending more than they intended

TH THEM BROUGHT WI CASH THEY G IN US ITE ATM -S

01 OM AN ON ING CASH FR US T CARD BI

DE 02 CREDIT OR USING OWN T / APP EN YM 03 E PA MOBILE PHON ISTBAND 04 CASHLESS WR CARD 05 G CASH OR TOKENS USIN 06

Festival Accommodation Choices:

The av ge rraaag veeer geer feTTh shteievaaav orer l fe st -ogeoe iv al l aftetstenivda g-g snd1ss0 910 te gigsat tend t a a ear gigsigsayeaye aryar g

Standard Camping 54.4%

Hotel off-site 20.5%

Sending photos

Using the festival’s official app

Reading festival news

USING OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA

42.5% 38.5%

Tracking weather forecasts

64.8%

Top 10 things people use smartphones for at festivals Instant Messaging

72.3%

Sharing their experience on Facebook

for premium accommodation felt it offered good value for money

Calling / texting people back home

66% would pay for premium accommodation again in future 63% of people who paid

Calling to stay in touch with friends at the event

Glamping/ VIP Camping 2.6%

Texting to stay in touch with friends at the event

Camper Van 4%

35.1%

33.7%

33.7%

27.1%

19%

15.4%

They are most receptive to the following forms of festival advertising:

66% Posters or outdoor ads

52% Radio ads 37%

like cockta

62% Facebook ads

54% Magazine or newspaper ads

54% TV ads

Tech

91% of

second, cheaper handset to festivals

10 O

nli

n

or european fest i v a l rms f -go tfo ers

9% take a

T op

Pla

festival-goers own a smart-phone

T he

al oc i eS

Facebook 92.5% YouTube 88.6% whatsapp 56.9% Instagram 48.7% Spotify 45.3% google+ 37.4% Twitter 36.5% linkedin 26.6% snapchat 26.2% last.fm 19.3% 25% d poste have n social to o a pho whilst at ia d e m which tival a fes ave later h they retted reg

70% are on a fixed monthly contract

48% would use their smartphones more at festivals if the reception was better 56% re-charged their phone during a festival

Mobile network market-share for festival-goers

PLAY - 2.3%

Mobistar - 2.8%

TELE2 - 3% PROXIMUS - 3.2% TELENOR - 6% Telekom - 6.4%

1 ch lik 8% am e pa gn e

ails

O2 6.4% T-MOBILE - 10.5% ORANGE - 11.8%

VODAFONE - 13.6%

ket et mar n s d n a h Mobile for europea share al-goers: festiv %

31 hone Apple iP g - 27.7 % Samsun - 10.4 % Nokia 8.5 % Sony - .6 % htc - 7 % lg - 5.4 - 1.6 % rry Blackbe ola - 0.9 Motor

www.pluggochargers.com

x 200.000 Number of festival-goers powered by PLUGGO in 2014

x 3,240 Costumers per hour

x 300.000 Total number of PLUGGO chargers rented or sold at festivals

x 54 Costumers per minute

THE AWARDS Best Small European Festival

What these intimate events lack in scope they compensate for with an abundance of idiosyncrasies and grass roots appeal. Despite their minimal capacity, many of these cater to their audiences with such focus and peculiar charm that larger events may seem bland in comparison.

FINALISTS • • • • • • • • • •

B.my.Lake (Hungary) Feest in het Park (Belgium) Festival Tauron Nowa Muzyka (Poland) Grape Festival (Slovakia) Happiness Festival (Germany) Indiependence (Ireland) Into The Great Wide Open (The Netherlands) Jazz in the Park (Romania) PLAI (Romania) The Garden Festival (Croatia) Last year’s winner: Fusion Festival (Romania)

THE AWARDS Best Indoor Festival

Those averse to camping out in the sticks can enjoy these urban events a little more, safe in the knowledge that they’ll be [hopefully] returning to a bed at the end of the night. Sold either on a show-by-show basis, or via an all encompassing wristband, they give people chance to see multiple acts in the comfort of the indoors. Which one had you ditching green fields for the concrete jungle?

FINALISTS • • • • • • • • • •

Blues in Hell (Norway) I Love Techno (Belgium) I Love Techno (France) Metal Hammer Paradise (Germany) Reeperbahn Festival (Germany) Rolling Stone Weekender (Germany) Sensation (The Netherlands) Sonar (Spain) TiMAF (Romania) Waves (Austria & Slovakia)

Last year’s winner: Metal Hammer Paradise (Germany)

Bucks New University, Official Partner of the UK Festival Awards and Conference Sponsors of The Greener Festival Award Bucks New University has a 20-year heritage of industry degrees in music production and event management. Sustainable events are a priority within the festival sector and Bucks has been at the forefront of innovations to support this agenda, particularly through our association with A Greener Festival.

Our BSc (Hons) Event & Festival Sustainability Management has been tailored to deliver graduates qualified to deal with the demand for greater sustainability and environmental care surrounding live events and festivals.

Bucks has been instrumental in delivering Music and Event Management undergraduate degrees and our alumni are among the most influential in the music industry. #BucksMusic @BucksMusicDept facebook.com/BucksMusicDepartment

0800 0565 660 advice@bucks.ac.uk bucks.ac.uk/music

THE AWARDS The Green Operations Award

The Green Operations Award, presented by Yourope and the GO Group, recognises festivals that have made a significant contribution to developing more sustainable events. This may be through practices and systems introduced at their own event, through the development of good practices that they have shared with other events, a specific innovation, or through gradual improvements over a number of years.

The award is judged and awarded by a panel made up of experts not directly linked to any specific festival, with the exception that the previous year’s winner will be invited to cast a vote for the following year’s award only.

FINALISTS Ilosaarirock (Finland) Northside (Denmark) Roskilde & Stop Wasting Food (Denmark) Shambala (UK) Welcome To The Future (Netherlands) last year’s winner: Way Out West (Sweden)

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THE AWARDS Newcomer Of The Year IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Amidst the sea of ubiquitous mainstream sensations, a few innovative underground acts rise through the ranks each year thanks to more discerning festival-goers and organisers who are willing to take a risk showcasing relatively unproven talent. This award celebrates those who are on the path to becoming the headliners of tomorrow.

FINALISTS Stromae (Belgium) London Grammar (UK) Milky Chance (Germany) George Ezra (UK) MO (Denmark) Royal Blood (UK) Jungle (UK) Hozier (Ireland) Mighty Oaks (Germany) Birth of Joy (The Netherlands) Last year’s winner: Imagine Dragons (USA)

THE AWARDS Artists’ Favourite European Festival

The group of people that has a unique insight into the festival experience is the artists.

Playing in front of thousands of people as they travel from one festival to another, they probably see more than most do during the summer. But which one do they collectively enjoy the most?

The winner of this Award has been decided by a panel of top booking agents from across Europe.

FINALISTS • • • • • • • • • •

Glastonbury (United Kingdom) Hove (Norway) Oya Festivalen (Norway) Primavera Sound (Spain) Pukkelpop (Belgium) Rock en Seine (France) Rock Werchter (Belgium) Slottsfjell (Norway) Sziget (Hungary) Way Out West (Sweden) Last year’s winner: Lowlands (Netherlands)

presents

December 2-5, 2015 Gradonna Mountain Resort www.europeanfestivalconference.com

Kals, Osttirol / Austria www.gradonna.at

S

A CONFERENCE FULLY DEDICATED TO FESTIVALS

Registration and Conference Packages at www.europeanfestivalconference.com

THE AWARDS Best New European Festival

In what many would argue is an already over-saturated market, these debutantes managed to navigate the battle royale of the festival circuit and hold their own against established titans. Bringing a fresh take, new music and alternative audiences to the festival scene, which one have you already put in your diary for next time?

FINALISTS • • • • • • • • • •

Bergfestival (Austria) Down The Rabbit Hole (The Netherlands) Festival The Brave (Holland) Imaginarium Festival (France) MS Artville (Germany) Sea Dance Festival (Montenegro) Serbia Wonderland Festival (Serbia) Signal Festival (Czech republic) Sunscape Festival (Malta) Your’in (Belgium) Last year’s winner: B.my.Lake (Hungary)

THE AWARDS Festival Anthem of the Year

The ultimate test of any song is how it’s received live – and there’s no better place to gauge this than at festivals. While thousands of great records were lapped up by millions over the summer, few stood out as true populist classics that created defining festival moments.

Which one epitomised the spirit of summer 2014?

FINALISTS • Arctic Monkeys – R U Mine • Atomic Bomb! – The Atomic Bomb! Band and Special Guests • Black Keys – Lonely Boy • Calvin Harris – Summer • Ellie Goulding – Burn • George Ezra – Budapest • Outkast – Hey Ya • Pharell Williams- Happy • Royal Blood – Come on Over • Stromae – Papaoutai Last year’s winner: Daft Punk – Get Lucky (France)

Powerful Thinking is a notfor-profit industry think-do tank working towards an energy efficient, low carbon and cost effective future for festivals.

Projects and resources A free online tool which allows event organisers to compare their fuel use with industry averages, assess carbon impacts and provides an energy rating.

Online > Energy factsheets > Case studies > Latest news > The Power Behind Festivals Guide

Coming soon...

Energy Revolution is an unprecedented collaboration taking place across the festival industry tackling climate change. Festivals and audiences will work together to reduce environmental impacts, account for emissions and drive investment into renewable energy projects.

2 7TH - 3 0 TH A U G U S T 2 0 1 5

www.powerful-thinking.org.uk

THE AWARDS YES Group H&S Innovation Award IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Many festivals have, or are developing, innovative ways to enhance health & safety within their crowded spaces. Some go to great efforts to deliver new and exciting products and services, which keep the audience ever safer and reduce the risks endemic to the event environment. These innovations can inform and positively change public behaviour and also create a safety culture throughout the industry. This new award recognises the innovation that made the greatest positive difference of them all.

A panel of independent experts picked out the five innovations most worthy of the award.

FINALISTS MOJO/LOC Festivals (Netherlands) for a new approach to temporarilly placed tents, constructions and installations

Summer Days Festival (Switzerland) for their waterside thermal imaging cameras

Woodstock Festival (Poland) for new changes in technology

Last year’s winner: Paleo (Switzerland)

THE AWARDS Best Medium-Sized European Festival IN ASSOCIATION WITH

With a tendency to shy away from big names and shift the focus towards specific genres and unique non-musical experiences, the rising popularity of these events demonstrates that unpredictability and character pay off. Some will continue to expand and join the ranks of the majors, whilst others will probably settle happily into their niche and stay there.

FINALISTS • • • • • • • • • • • •

Audioriver (Poland) Berlin Festival (Germany) Best Kept Secret (The Netherlands) Electric Castle Festival (Romania) Hideout Festival (Croatia) Lovefest (Serbia) MasterCard Balaton Sound (Hungary) OFF Festival Katowice (Poland) Pohoda Festival (Slovakia) Sea Dance Festival (Montenegro) Volt Festival (Hungary) Way Out West (Sweden) Last year’s winner: Melt! Festival (DE)

THE AWARDS Promoter Of The Year

Recognising the festival organiser who has produced an outstanding event, overcame adversity, or truly went above and beyond the call of duty to pull something phenomenal out of the bag. There’s always at least one each year - often several - so this one is a very tough call for judges.

FINALISTS • • • • •

FKP Scorpio (Germany) Friendly Fire (The Netherlands) Live Nation (Belgium) Metropolis (United Kingdom) ID&T (Belgium) Last year’s winner: FKP Scorpio (Germany)

THE AWARDS Best European Festival Line-Up

Despite how many quirky art installations and pun-based concession stands your festival has, it will always be the line-up that shifts the most tickets. Booking a few curveball acts, legendary reunions, and under-the-radar innovators can set an event apart from the multitude of less inspired rosters around.

FINALISTS • • • • • • • • • •

Best Kept Secret (The Netherlands) Glastonbury (United Kingdom) Open’er Festival (Poland) Hurricane/Southside (Germany) Oya Festival (Norway) Pinkpop (The Netherlands) Primavera (Spain) Rock am Ring / Rock im Park (Germany) Rock Werchter (Belgium) Sziget (Hungary) Last Year’s Winner: Berlin Festival (Germany)

THE AWARDS Best Headliner

A killer headline performance can be talked about for years to come, etched into musical history as one of those “I was there” moments. To succeed requires energy, musicianship, dedication, creativity and a fortuitous coming together of time and space. Some acts may be regulars on the festival circuit, but which one really nailed it this year?

FINALISTS • • • • • • • • • •

Arcade Fire Arctic Monkeys Imagine Dragons Jack White Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Outkast Pearl Jam Queens of the Stone Age Stromae The Black Keys Last year’s winner: Arctic Monkeys (UK)

EUROSONIC NOORDERSLAG

15/16/17 JAN 2015 15/16/17 JANUARY 2

GRONINGEN, GRONINGEN, NL

EUROPEAN MUSIC PLATFORM

EPIC

EUROPEAN PRODUCTION INNOVATION CONFERENCE & FAIR

EUROPEAN PRODUCTION INNOVATION CONFERENCE & FAIR EPIC is a new conference and fair that runs alongside the existing Eurosonic Noorderslag Conference. EPIC is entirely focused on innovation at festivals and venues, and offers three days of discussions, presentations of products, alongside new ideas and how to implement them at festivals, concerts, venues, and in the production of events. Bringing together over 3,200 Dutch and international music professionals, including representatives of more than 400 festivals, this is the place to be to hear about everything to do with the world of producing live music events.

EPIC TAKES PLACE FROM THURSDAY JANUARY 15 UNTIL SATURDAY JANUARY 17, 2015, AT EBBINGEKWARTIER IN GRONINGEN. EPIC IS ACCESSIBLE WITH A FULL CONFERENCE REGISTRATION. CHECK YOUR TIMETABLES FOR THE EPIC PROGRAMME OVERVIEW.

EPIC features presentations of the latest developments in technology like ticketing, cashless systems, and wireless communication. You can also get advice about rigging, logistics, managing sound levels, ear protection and sustainability, presented through EPIC’s daytime programme in a series of interactive Q&A’s. You also get the chance to meet the busiest international tour and production managers, suppliers, sector associations, start-ups, venues and festivals, all of whom are there to share their insights about the present and the future.

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT EPIC? VISIT WWW.EUROSONIC-NOORDERSLAG.NL

THE AWARDS Best Major European Festival IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Like temporary cities, the largest festivals are a regular pilgrimage and a rite of passage for many. An affront to the adage that less is more, these behemoths certainly have quantity covered when it comes to capacity, stages, acts and practically every other conceivable aspect. But which one will prove to be of the highest quality?

FINALISTS • • • • • • • • • • • •

Colours of Ostrava (Czech Republic) Electric Picnic (Ireland) EXIT Festival (Serbia) Hurricane & Southside (Germany) NOS Alive (formerly Optimus Alive) (Portugal) Rock am Ring/ Rock im Park (Germany) Rock Werchter (Belgium) Roskilde Festival (Denmark) Sziget Festival (Hungary) Tomorrowland (Belgium) Wacken Open Air (Germany) Woodstock Festival (Poland) Last Year’s Winner: EXIT (Serbia)

THE AWARDS The Lifetime Achievement Award IN ASSOCIATION WITH

This award is presented to an individual whose personal vision and energy has propelled the entire festival industry forward in a dynamic, creative way and in doing so created a lasting positive legacy.

THIS YEAR’S WINNER

MELVIN BENN

On Wednesday 14th January 2015 the annual European Festival Awards will see one of the UK’s most distinguished event promoters receive the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’.

As the driving force behind Latitude and Reading & Leeds Festivals and overseas events including Electric Picnic, Benicassim, Hove and Berlin Festival, Benn’s vast experience of staging the best in entertainment events also made him instrumental in turning around the fortunes of Glastonbury Festival, as its licensee for a decade.

In addition, Benn has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of Wembley Stadium since May 2011, sits as a representative on the Concert Promoters Association (CPA), was influential in re-writing the Guide to Health and Safety at Outdoor Events (‘the Pop Code’) and makes regular presentations to the Emergency Planning College,

the police and other bodies.

Benn is one of only two Britons to have been honoured with this award, the other being Michael Eavis (in 2011).

Other past recipients include Jan Smeets (Netherlands), Leif Skov (Denmark), Herman Schueremans (Belgium) and Marek Lieberberg (Germany).

Melvin Benn comments: “I’m very flattered and honoured to receive this prestigious award and join an incredible line-up of previous winners. I work with the best in the business and couldn’t do what I do without a really strong team around me; my thanks go to all those individuals past and present who’ve helped to make our events what they are. I’m hugely passionate about our industry and every day continues to excite me as we push the boundaries of the festival experience and create lifelong memories for music fans and audiences.”

THE AWARDS WHAT OTHERS SAY Steve Jenner, Festival Awards director and co-founder: “Melvin Benn’s signature has, for a long time, been engraved deeper than any other’s into the shape and character of the UK’s major festival market. This takes the form of a unique and unequalled blend of operational preeminence and heartfelt passion for his events and audiences, one which continues to set new standards in production, safety and sustainability that extend tangibly well beyond his own events. It’s a great testament to Melvin that his commitment and contributions are now being recognised at a Continental level, and it is an honour for us to be the ones presenting this award.”

Paul Latham, COO, Live Nation UK & Ireland: “If you think festivals you think Melvin Benn. No-one else is more synonymous with a genre of our business.

He lives and breathes to deliver bigger and better for his audiences wherever they may be. Can`t think of a bad word to say about him (apart from his bloody football team!)”

Stefan Lehmkuhl, director, Melt and Berlin Festivals: “Well deserved to Melvin Benn. I’m happy to play in his team alongside the other great team players he carefully recruits under his management which can be tough but is always fair, whether music or football, I guess.

As nasty as this business can be at times, this man is driven in a very positive way and adds ethos, heart and professionalism to a whole industry.”

Allan McGowan, ILMC: “Melvin Benn is widely recognised as a man of strong principles and abilities who has contributed much to the evolution of the modern music festival market in the UK .and beyond. Besides organising some of the sector’s most successful events, he has worked tirelessly with industry associations and regional and national authorities seeking innovation and improvement in Health and Safety, Environmental Issues and all aspects of the festival experience for the benefit of all involved.”

A special message from Herman Schueremans, CEO of Live Nation Belgium and the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012: “When I was a young kid, I went to London to buy records and to see bands and the excuse at home was that I was going to see London and Big Ben. When I was setting up our twin festival Torhout and Werchter (which later became Rock Werchter) 40 years ago, I learned that there was another Benn, who also organized a twin festival - Reading and Leeds.

Two years ago, Melvin came to visit Rock Werchter to see how it worked and was organised. I met a superprofessional and humble human being that was open to learning from and helping other festivals.

We discovered that we had a common passion: cycling, so I offered him a Rock Werchter Cycling outfit. And he offered me a yellow fluorescent security jacket. That jacketis still in my car... So Melvin is taking care of us.

Congratulations to Melvin for his Lifetime Achievement Award, recognising his contribution to what festivals are today: a gathering of people that unite to enjoy music with their friends.”

COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE OF THE GLOBAL FESTIVAL INDUSTRY www.festivalinsights.com

THE AWARDS Award For Excellence And Passion IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Launched in 2014, this award is dedicated to an individual whose exceptional passion and dedication has created a truly unique and magical entity in the marketplace.

FINALISTS this category does not have shortlists. The winner will be announced at the gala ceremony in Groningen on 14th January.

THANK YOU! THE FESTIVAL AWARDS TEAM WOULD LIKE TO SAY A MASSIVE THANK-YOU TO THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE, WITHOUT WHOSE HELP THIS YEAR’S EVENT COULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED

Yourope Eurosonic Noorderslag Eventbrite Intelligent Venue Solutions PlugGO Snack Media The YES Group Bucks New University The GO Group ICM&SS FaceCulture Fanteamz Global Publicity TPi IQ Magazine Live UK/Audience Music Week In-Site Interactive All festivals which took part All the artists which were involved All panellists at the conference All the judges who helped decide the awards Everyone who contributed to over 720,000 votes

At Global Publicity: Nikki McNeill Clare Dover Jessica Goodchild Festival Awards UK Team: Amy Wright - Mondiale Events Director Tom Lawson - Mondiale Events Chris McCormick - Director Steve Jenner - Director Michael Baker - Editor of Festival Insights Andy Lenthall - PSA Mel Robinson - Mondiale Design Justin Gawne - Mondiale Publishing Damian Walsh - Mondiale Publishing Festival Awards European Team: Christof Huber - Yourope Ruud Berends - Eurosonic Noorderslag Peter Smidt - Eurosonic Nooderslag Frederike Cath - Eurosonic Noorderslag Michiel Florusse - Sound & Video We would like to add a special thanks to our friends at Vestrock Festival (NL) for supplying free Vestrock Blonde beer for everyone tonight - cheers!