Venues in Germany will turn red on June 22 as part of a new campaign to illuminate the detrimental impact COVID-19 has had on the live events industry.
The Night of Light initiative aims to open political dialogue about how the event industry can be “saved from a massive wave of insolvency” and how to preserve thousands of jobs.
The types of venues taking part in the visual display include special event locations, event centres, convention centres, conference hotels and other venues such as theatres, philharmonic halls, concert halls, and playhouses.
The Night of Light campaign is encouraging social media users to share their images and videos of the objects and buildings that have been illuminated under the hashtag #nightoflight2020.
The campaign states: “The event industry is a complex industry that combines many different trades and special disciplines. For this reason, the event industry as a whole has no central lobby.”
The initiative has also announced a virtual event from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., hosted by promoter and campaign streaming partner BigCityBeats, with DJs performing across three floors in the Adam Hall Group Experience Centre in Frankfurt.
Since mid-March, the event industry has practically no sales and with provisional ban on large events until August 31 in Germany, and a subsequent preliminary planning for events, there is an 80 – 100 per cent loss of sales over a period of at least eight months. It added: “This creates an acute risk of bankruptcy for the entire industry.”
It notes that due to the restrictions and necessary hygiene regulations, the economic implementation of events is currently not possible. “There are therefore special, economic challenges in order to save the so-called ‘first in – last out’ companies as well as the sole proprietors working in the event industry, and thus the entire industry,” it continued.
The German government has announced a €1bn ‘culture restart’ financial aid package, with a €150m stimulus package for the live music business, with music venues, festivals, organisers and agents set to benefit.
However, while the funding was welcomed by the industry, Germany’s promoters’ association BDKV thinks it does not go far enough and has called for a further €3.75bn from September.
Image: Night of Light
Share this