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The events industry is holding a Global Day of Action today, 30th September, calling for government support amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Back in August, music industry workers marched in Manchester, calling on the government to provide for employees in the touring and festival events sectors. The #WeMakeEvents march coincided with a country-wide ‘Red Alert’ day, where venues lit up red in unison.

Today, #WeMakeEvents is hosting its Global Day of Action, calling for for grants –  not loans –  to be made available to businesses in the events supply chain, a furlough scheme extension until the industry is back to work, and an extension of the self-employment scheme, tailored towards the industry. To raise awareness, the businesses will light up red once more, to sound the ‘Red Alert’.

“PLASA founded #WeMakeEvents to raise awareness of the UK’s 1,000,000 highly skilled industry professionals,” PLASA said on the initiative, “all of whom have had no work for the past four months with little likelihood of restarting until Spring 2021.”

“Our industry includes a huge supply chain ranging from production, audio, lighting and video, to logistics, planning, transportation, and some of the world’s leading technology manufacturers. Without additional support for the supply chain, the UK is in danger of losing its global position as a world leader in world class events. Moreover, all of our incredible creatives and technicians could lose their livelihoods for good.”

You can find out more about how to get involved with the Global Day of Action here.

In July, following various campaigns by the likes of Music Venues Trust (MVT) and #LetTheMusicPlay, the UK government have announced the first details of a £1.57billion support package for arts and culture institutions which remain closed amid the coronavirus pandemic. The package includes £270m in loans and £880million in grants for music venues, theatres, museums, heritage sites and galleries. 

As of August 2020, there are approximately 4.76 million self-employed people in the UK – 14.5% of those employed. That figure is a record 238,000 fewer than in the previous quarter. The majority of those working in the music industry are freelance or self-employed, and the industry is expected to take yet another hit as a result of new measures regarding self employment, which were announced last week.