Using A Specific Event, consider and write a summary of operational elements used

The event that I have to chosen to look at the operational elements used within is Leeds music festival, I have chosen this because I have quite bit of background knowledge of the festival having attended a few times with friends. Starting off I will look at the health and  safety side of things within the event; The festival takes the safety of their patrons very seriously, being a high profile event with a very high demand for tickets it wouldn't have progressed very far without being safe. They have a list of items that are prohibited in the campsites including Gas canisters, aerosols, glass items. The event is partnered with the west Yorkshire police force so as to ensure safety is more guaranteed. The website has a list of fire safety procedures and tips on It's website for patrons to look at before arrival, as well as several other pages to look at giving advice on how to stay as safe as possible within the event, they have staff and security personell on site at all times as well as this. There are also several first aid tents scattered throughout the festival site and an easy to use map, with signposts throughout the site during the event.
Travelling to the festival is relatively easy and the website, again, gives patrons a lot of information on how to get there. The festival also provides a free shuttle bus service to and from the village nearby, for people arriving on trains etc. They Provide information for practically every possible mode of transport to the event. In relation to travel, the festival also provides paking for it's customers, with special parking for campervans. In terms of food and drink, the Festival has a variety of food outlets on site... there is also a twenty four hour supermarket not far from the event site. The leeds fest website has a link to the prices of the food vendors on site and also a stock list of the supermarket available for viewing.
The whole event's Lighting and sound is all professionally handled, either by the festival, on the smaller stages/ performance tents, or by the booked band's tech crews on the mainstages. The Festival has a number of big named sponsors that are very useful for a festival, for example Tuborg beer, this is useful for distribution throughout the event, as are Gaymer's cider, Pepsi max and Relentless. They are also sponsored by vodafone which could be very useful in advertising opportunities, sponsorship from NME aswell would be advantagous in this area aswell. The highlights of the festival are shown on BBC three and also broadcast on BBC radio one, this shows the success of the festival in my opinion.
I believe this to be a very well structured and organised event with most of the operational elements taken into account and catered for, and I think that this is a main factor of their success.

Reference:
http://www.leedsfestival.com/info/index.aspx

Devise an area of possible development for a small contemporary dance company(real or imagined) that might effectively engage with or explore one current social issue – describe the new activity, suggest why it would be appropriate for the company and describe how this development might affect the organisation

In the world of today there are unfathomable social issues that could be engaged by any type of company in the arts. With a Dance company there are certain issues that would be easier to deal to with. In My opinion the best way for a dance company to deal with any issue would be to create a piece based on or about it, For example; last year I went to see DV8 perform their (then) most recent piece called 'To Be Straight With You'. It dealt with the issues around the world with homosexuality and how homosexual people are treated by their peers. It was a very eye opening performance and beautiful to watch, but it also was very hard hitting with the points that were put forward in it - there were several small stories that made the piece, they were each an interview with a real person telling of their experiences of the prejudice they have been dealt. I feel that this way of dealing with social issues is definitely more effective than just letting people know your company is anti or pro-whatever. People enjoy getting immersed in things visually, and as a dance company I believe that your most powerful tool is the ability to make people think and feel something about the issues you feel are worth thinking and feeling about. The effect this would have on a dance company is relatively obvious, either the audience is going to react positively to your performance and understand the intent behind the piece, or they will not. It is always a risk that any artist needs to take and also they have bear in mind that you cannot please everybody; I mean there are believe it or not some people out there that dislike the great movies such as 'The Godfather'. On the other hand I think you have to be careful when dealing with quite a big social issue in a performance (such as homosexual prejudice) because although your piece may not reach everybody with the intent, you do not want to reach the point where you offend people by expressing your views. This would be a sure-fire way to lose all standing with your audience. I think there must be a lot of time and planning on who it is that you want to appeal to and what it is you want them to get from your piece before you start the actual direction of movement when the theme of a performance could be a temperamental subject. In my opinion I really believed that in this case (To Be Straight With You) the company did a remarkable job and effectively put their cause into the piece without offending anybody but impressing and shocking people, I came out of it seeing a new perspective on things and many other people I spoke to about the piece afterwards were all in the same boat in their thoughts towards it. We all felt somewhat guilty for not knowing about things that were happening in different places in the world which you would think should be public knowledge but isn't. The piece was very successful in bringing these issues to light and are still in very high standard amongst the performance world.

Reference:
http://www.dv8.co.uk/projects/tobestraightwithyou

Assignment: How Global Economics are Relevant to Falmouth Oyster Festival

In my opinion, global economics are relevant for the Falmouth oyster festival because of a number of reasons; I belive the main reason would be the influence that the economic 'crisis' has been taking on the possible patrons of this event. Falmouth is a relatively small town compared to others in cornwall, and cornwall in itself is mostly a tourism driven economy. The oyster festival is not held on a bank holiday or during the half term, so if people were going to attend it they would more than likely have to miss work for a long weekend, if the state of the economy is in such turmoil and people are fearing/facing job cuts, loan refusals, etc. they will not be inclined to take a long weekend break to visit an oyster festival. With this in mind, I would (if in the position of the oyster festival's management team) try to appeal to a specific type of patron, for example people that won't have as many of these worries (students and/or the older generation). Either this, or advertise to the local community to try and attract as many of the people of Falmouth to which this festival would have meaning. The festival is to kick off the start of the oyster dredging season. this would be useful as the local fishermen of Falmouth would naturally take an interest in the event, as would the local produce retailers. In relation to this the festival focuses a lot on the culinary side of the oyster season, this is a good way to attract the local restaurant owners and hopefully restaurant restaurant owners from around cornwall who will also be benefitting from the oysters and other seafood from around the coasts. It's also interesting for the general public to go and try new dishes that they could learn to create at home in their own time. Another reason that the economics of the world would affect the oyster festival could be the prices and shortages of petrol... If people are having to cut back on their consumption of fuel, taking into account the remote location of falmouth for a lot of people, also cornwall in general is a very spread out county, they may not be able to afford to travel down for the festival. upon reflection of these factors there are a lot more elements that influence the expected turnout of events such as the Falmouth Oyster festival. Some of which I would not have thought necessary to take into account, such as the job cuts. I always thought of events as if you advertised it people would come just because they would be interested in the content of the festival, show, etc. But there are so many more things to think about and this assignment has helped me realised this and gave me a more reasonable and educated perspective on organising events. It has also made me want to keep more up to date with the news to be in the loop of possible factors that could affect the industry.

Blog Assignment, events around cornwall

Heritage event: The Haunted Castle
This even is taking place at Pendennis castle in Falmouth and lasting for one week commencing the twenty fifth of October and finishing on Halloween. The event includes a spooky themed tour around the castle with access to usually off limit parts; whilst on the tour you are also told a number of ghost stories about the history of the castle. This event targets families as it's main patrons, with a family ticket option included. Prices are six pounds for adults, three pounds for children, and five pounds and ten pence concession, the family ticket is fifteen pounds. It is also free entry for heritage members. I do not think that I will attend this event, it does not appeal to me, in my opinion if you have been on one ghost tour you have been on all of them.


Entertainment Event: Cornwall Film Festival
From November the Fifth until November the Seventh Falmouth is host to the ninth annual Cornwall Film Festival, this event is a gathering of young innovative film makers and connoseurs alike. There are a range of films being shown throughout the weekend, from australian westerns to cornish language musicals; on top of the film presentations there are a number of other activities to enjoy, including seminars from people in the film industry, workshops for young people; introducing them to the processes of film making, and an exhibition of film related art. This event's target audience is a very wide one, everybody enjoys film and with the range that are being shown people are bound to find at least one thing to enjoy. Prices are varied, from day passes to weekend passes, concession passes and individual feauture presentation ticket prices. I am looking forward to attending this event, I love film and my dream is to create a film festival after finishing my course.

Visual Art event: Truro City of Lights
On the seventeenth of November in the streets of Truro's town centre thousands of people will be attending the City of Lights event. Major artists from all over Cornwall build very intricate and visually spectactular lanterns to parade through the streets, also children from the local schools in the area create lots of smaller scale lanterns to fill the procession, aswell as this main event there is live music and dance throughout the evening, the event lasts for one night and is an annual event. In my opinion this event appeals to people of every age and has a very wide range of target audience. The event is free to attend but there are donation collectors around the streets, a suggested donation is one pound per person. The event last year had quite a few big sponsors including Skinner's ale, Specsavers and Abbey Bank. I am personally very excited to attend this event, I know a lot of people that would find this a really amazing night.