September 30, 2020
Hidden Door is proud today to add our voice to the global #WeMakeEvents #LightItInRed movement, standing by our incredible live events sector and highlighting the support it urgently needs to survive the Covid-19 crisis.
We are thinking of all the festivals, venues, arts and cultural organisations and people who work in the events industry who are struggling just now.
Entertainment events around the world have been devastated, from major festivals, tours and landmark theatres, to grassroots venues and business events. The entire supply chain is at risk of collapse. The UK’s creative sector was previously growing at five times the rate of the wider economy, employing over 2 million people and contributing £111.7 billion to the economy. This industry creates millions of memories with millions of stories that are told and retold to friends and families around the world.
#WeMakeEvents is committed to help ensure this continues. #WeMakeEvents is an international movement and champion for all the people in the events industry, creating awareness and understanding of their threats and issues.
Today, 30 September 2020, #WeMakeEvents – R E D A L E R T – Stand as ONE will be a day of global action. Between 8pm and 11pm tonight, iconic buildings and monuments will light up in red #LightItInRed with thousands of powerful shafts of light representing our industry’s workforce, projections of cancelled concerts on the outside of empty venues and creative art installations.
Across the globe thousands of event professionals in over 20 countries, from New Zealand to the Faroe Islands, will pass the baton across time zones while staging impressive art installations and lighting projections.
You can join the #WeMakeEvents Global Day of action here.
#WeMakeEvents was originally launched by PLASA in April 2020 as a result of the impact of COVID-19 on their membership and wider supply chain to events. The Campaign grew to include over 21industry bodies along with many companies and professionals in the UK. This led to the original ‘RedAlert – throw us a line’ day of Action on 11th August 2020 across the UK. The success of this initial activity has led to a global movement, coming together in a spirit of mutual support and solidarity.
Red Alert – Stand as ONE phase of the campaign aims to raise public and media awareness in support of the live events sector which employs circa 1,000,000 highly skilled people in the UK. The sector includes a huge supply chain of companies ranging from event production, audio, lighting, video, logistics, planning, transportation and some of the world’s leading technology manufacturers.
The campaign is being run by a large and growing industry collective of trade bodies, businesses and freelancers affected by the shutdown all working together. It spans online and social messaging, video, case studies and legal outdoor events to gain media attention. The aim is to have financial support extended for the people and companies in this sector until they can return to work.
The UK is regarded as a world leader in delivering complex events and we risk losing it forever.
#WeMakeEvents
