The EAFN sent out a survey to all the Festival, Fair and Funday organisers in the East Anglian region in Sep 2020 to ask them about the impact Covid-19 has had on their event and their plans for the future. https://survey.zohopublic.eu/zs/mbB8cD
Over 70 (out of around 700) East Anglian Festivals, Fairs and Fundays (in Cambs, Essex, Norfolk. Suffolk) completed the survey.
The results (see Summary below) combined with other EAFN data give us an overview of the impact the Pandemic has had on our region in 2020 and the views of our Festival Organisers on their future plans.
SUMMARY:
96% cancelled their events in 2020 🙁
but 16% have provided us with Online Events this year 🙂
(Note: this concurs with our 2020 listings at https://sixtytwothings.co.uk/festivals/ where we had listed around 500 Events for 2020, which were updated with all the cancellations.
81% plan to hold their Event in 2021 🙂
15% are undecided
4% are not holding their event in 2021:(
76% believe it likely their events will take place in 2021 🙂
24% believe it unlikely 🙁
41% are hoping their events will run at full capacity in 2021
59% believe this to be unlikely
We also asked if they were considering changing the format of their events, any comments on the problems faced and any other ideas. Here’s an overview from the comments received:
In particular there are concerns about:
Ever changing Covid 19 guidelines and legislation
Additional costs/decreased revenue
Reduced Funding and Sponsorship
Reduced Footfall (Public Confidence and Social Distance restrictions)
Reduced Manpower and Skills gap
There are several different Planning strategies:
30% are planning to go ahead with their full show as per no restrictions
10% are planning just for a Socially Distanced (Reduced Capacity) Show
30% are planning for a Hybrid (Part virtual) event (7).
5% are planning for both Full and Socially Distanced (Flexibility to adapt to any rule changes)
10% Planning for a Virtual only Sho
15% are either unsure, waiting or not planning…….
Many are concerned their events as we know them are just not viable whilst the Virus remains in circulation.
There looks like there will be a demand for more Outdoor venues and a considerable demand for outdoor feel good family events next Summer. There could be a lot of events that usually take place in the late winter/Spring time switched to the summer/autumn next year. It is also likely that there will a lot more smaller scale events where the larger events move to alternative arrangements.
