When will this shit end?

[Mr.Tease]

I'm not sure if I'd go even if it does go ahead (I don't even have a ticket so I might not even have a choice!) if COVID-19 is still about and there's no vaccine, as I live with a vulnerable person. Plus we don't know enough about the long term effects yet to make it worth risking. I'll wait and see what the situation is.

[Chapple12345]

The BRIT Awards have been moved to May next year, so with that, the BAFTAS and the Oscars moving until after March next year, could we see some form of normality by then? 

Edited June 29, 2020 by Chapple12345

[CaledonianGonzo]

Possible solutions could either be a wee beyond inflation bump in ticket prices or a reduction in the charitable donation.  Both seem more likely than them picking up the phone to Lockheed Martin.

[fatyeti24]

9 hours ago, Matt42 said:

Glastonbury had to make a decision by the end of March. We’ve got now until the end of March. Considering how fast things have moved already that is a long long time.

Emily said that cancelling this year cost them a lot of money - presumably on things they'd already started work on and not just the loss of revenue. If there was doubt as to whether next year could go ahead I wonder if they'd leave it as late as March again, or if this year's costs can be rolled into next year. 

I am more optimistic than I was that 2021 will go ahead.

[Cream Soda]

10 hours ago, Ozanne said:

There is a plan - https://www.nme.com/news/music/government-unveils-five-stage-plan-see-live-performances-return-uk-2696280?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=government-unveils-five-stage-plan-see-live-performances-return-uk&amp&__twitter_impression=true

So they have 5 stages of what they want to do...but is there any info about how they plan to bring it about or what goals need to be met before they can move on to the next stage?  I can't find anything.  

8 hours ago, Matt42 said:

Glastonbury had to make a decision by the end of March. We’ve got now until the end of March. Considering how fast things have moved already that is a long long time.

Unless things get set back again in the winter...but let's hope not.  

Is there a level of infection that would be considered low enough to remove the precautions in shops, social distancing, masks etc?  Surely we need to be at that point before mass gatherings can even be considered?  Maybe one for @Toilet Duck

 

[Ozanne]

12 minutes ago, Cream Soda said:

So they have 5 stages of what they want to do...but is there any info about how they plan to bring it about or what goals need to be met before they can move on to the next stage?  I can't find anything.  

Unless things get set back again in the winter...but let's hope not.  

No there isn’t, that’s part of the problem for the Arts industry, it’s basically just bullet points with no substance. This article goes into some of the frustrations for theatres (my sister is studying drama)

https://britishtheatre.com/oliver-dowden-delivers-uk-theatres-a-roadmap-to-oblivion/

[Cream Soda]

1 minute ago, Ozanne said:

No there isn’t, that’s part of the problem for the Arts industry, it’s basically just bullet points with no substance. This article goes into some of the frustrations for theatres (my sister is studying drama)

https://britishtheatre.com/oliver-dowden-delivers-uk-theatres-a-roadmap-to-oblivion/

So the plan is basically "we want to open up theatres at some point but no idea when or how".  Brilliant.

[Chef]

12 minutes ago, fatyeti24 said:

Emily said that cancelling this year cost them a lot of money - presumably on things they'd already started work on and not just the loss of revenue. If there was doubt as to whether next year could go ahead I wonder if they'd leave it as late as March again, or if this year's costs can be rolled into next year. 

I am more optimistic than I was that 2021 will go ahead.

I have seen interviews with Emily across a number of media outlets this weekend so can't remember exactly which one but she did say that everyone who had worked on this year was paid up until the point of cancellation which I can't imagine would have been cheap and hit them hard. At some point soon they will need to decide whether or not they can press ahead on incurring costs they may have to write off again - it won't just be a case of waiting until March as a cut off. I am sure they will proceed with organising next year but non the less it will be a bit of a gamble.

She did say the charity merchandise they released raised around £100k each for the three charities. 

[DeanoL]

You can see the festival accounts on Companies House.

It looks like they lose around 2.5 million in a normal fallow year. They came into this year with about 5.5 million in the bank. So assuming they lost the same as a regular fallow year they wouldn't quite go under but would be cutting it quite fine.

It's not the exact same circumstances though, as this year they will have spent money on stuff for the fest they can't recover. But equally I would imagine they have furloughed most of their staff and will continue to do so as long as they can, and most of that 2.5 million is going to be payroll.

I think next year will go ahead, but if it doesn't I can see them going under. Especially if they proceed on the assumption it will be happening, and then events/2nd wave conspire to force it not to. But equally if they chose to cancel 2021 right now, they might just about survive but it'd leave them basically wiped out financially.

[Sawdusty surfer]

38 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Possible solutions could either be a wee beyond inflation bump in ticket prices or a reduction in the charitable donation.  Both seem more likely than them picking up the phone to Lockheed Martin.

i'd like to see all current registrations cancelled and a small non returnable fee charged to register, maybe £10. Don't think that people that want to go would begrudge that to save it if it became necessary.

Much better that getting corporate sponsorship or a big hike in ticket prices.

Edit, that's if it were to be cancelled next year.

Edited June 29, 2020 by Sawdusty Surfer

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

7 minutes ago, Sawdusty Surfer said:

i'd like to see all current registrations cancelled and a small non returnable fee charged to register, maybe £10. Don't think that people that want to go would begrudge that to save it if it became necessary.

Much better that getting corporate sponsorship or a big hike in ticket prices.

 

I couldn’t see something like that happening. They never like to take patronage for granted and a global pandemic is exactly the sort of thing that could compromise that and indeed even see them go bust. I don’t think they’ll be taking liberties with registrations like that.

[Ozanne]

28 minutes ago, Cream Soda said:

So the plan is basically "we want to open up theatres at some point but no idea when or how".  Brilliant.

It’s great isn’t it, then again this what a Conservative government would do. They would put the arts at the bottom of the list of priorities. 

[steviewevie]

New 3 word slogan...build build build.

[steviewevie]

it's all the fault of the civil service. Too many remainers.

[tumbles]

43 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

You can see the festival accounts on Companies House.

It looks like they lose around 2.5 million in a normal fallow year. They came into this year with about 5.5 million in the bank. So assuming they lost the same as a regular fallow year they wouldn't quite go under but would be cutting it quite fine.

It's not the exact same circumstances though, as this year they will have spent money on stuff for the fest they can't recover. But equally I would imagine they have furloughed most of their staff and will continue to do so as long as they can, and most of that 2.5 million is going to be payroll.

I think next year will go ahead, but if it doesn't I can see them going under. Especially if they proceed on the assumption it will be happening, and then events/2nd wave conspire to force it not to. But equally if they chose to cancel 2021 right now, they might just about survive but it'd leave them basically wiped out financially.

Pretty sure if they launched a crowdfunder they'd get a serious wedge of support. 

[CaledonianGonzo]

32 minutes ago, Sawdusty Surfer said:

i'd like to see all current registrations cancelled and a small non returnable fee charged to register, maybe £10. Don't think that people that want to go would begrudge that to save it if it became necessary.

Much better that getting corporate sponsorship or a big hike in ticket prices.

Edit, that's if it were to be cancelled next year.

Would also work. Obviously, further financial barriers to entry are in general A Bad Thing - but if it's a choice between that and the festival going down the tubes then needs must.

[steviewevie]

Maybe they should hold Glastonbury in New Zealand.

[DeanoL]

4 minutes ago, tumbles said:

Pretty sure if they launched a crowdfunder they'd get a serious wedge of support. 

That's tricky though. The festival needs to be seen as a workable, solvent company. If you're a big artist and see that the festival trying to book you is doing a crowdfunder to avoid going bankrupt, do you want to take that gig? Or if you're one of the many companies providing infrastructure? No doubt they could raise a lot of money but it's not necessarily what you want to be seen to be doing - as it's not sustainable business.

[Mouseboy11]

Really don't see them testing on entry etc, you'd end up with people isolating for two weeks prior just in case.

[tumbles]

Just now, DeanoL said:

That's tricky though. The festival needs to be seen as a workable, solvent company. If you're a big artist and see that the festival trying to book you is doing a crowdfunder to avoid going bankrupt, do you want to take that gig? Or if you're one of the many companies providing infrastructure? No doubt they could raise a lot of money but it's not necessarily what you want to be seen to be doing - as it's not sustainable business.

Maybe some sort of share scheme to secure the future of the business, could basically offer a very small percentage (say 5%) and offer individuals 0.0000001% or something. Football clubs quite often have a very small percentage (1-2%) of shares that fans have bought in past etc. 

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

1 minute ago, Mouseboy11 said:

Really don't see them testing on entry etc, you'd end up with people isolating for two weeks prior just in case.

That’s personal choice though surely, why would that be an issue if you’ve got the ability to do it? I believe the system being touted is when when you test in advance anyway.

[steviewevie]

I think by next year things will be back to normal and people will still be dying of coronavirus, mostly in old peoples homes.

[Cream Soda]

9 minutes ago, Mouseboy11 said:

Really don't see them testing on entry etc, you'd end up with people isolating for two weeks prior just in case.

The more I think about testing on entry the more I can't see it working.  What if someone has sat on a busy coach for 5 hours then tests positive and gets turned away.  They could have infected people on the coach who are then going into the festival to mingle with 1000s of others.  I agree with @Deaf Nobby Burton it would have to be done in advance, but could this not be open to abuse?

[tumbles]

I can really see this gov trying to force the vaccine out before year end regardless of its long term impact, I mean they've already got an order for 40m of the Oxford one placed to be ready for Sept..  Cummings won't give a fuck about if its safe or not.. 

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

5 minutes ago, Cream Soda said:

The more I think about testing on entry the more I can't see it working.  What if someone has sat on a busy coach for 5 hours then tests positive and gets turned away.  They could have infected people on the coach who are then going into the festival to mingle with 1000s of others.  I agree with @Deaf Nobby Burton it would have to be done in advance, but could this not be open to abuse?

I think it’s open to abuse and also there will be a natural margin for error, if it’s done in advance there is always going to be a window when you could still catch it.

But depending on how much of the virus is circulating at the time that might be enough, you probably can’t completely eliminate the virus from being on site but you can ensure it’s limited to reasonably low levels.

If Glastonbury has gone ahead statistically only around 100 people would’ve had it on site without any testing, so testing in advance might bring that down to sub 50 maybe.

Thinking about it, it’s probably more important to be tested after than before. It would be hard to do once the event was over, but of everyone who went committed to a test on day the Tuesday after attendance, that would actually be far more effective and useful than trying to test beforehand.