23.06.2021: UK Music Chief Executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin has warned of the “existential threat” facing music festivals and their need for a  Government-backed insurance scheme to help them survive. 

His intervention followed the publication today (Weds 23rd July) of a hard-hitting report from MPs on the influential Public Accounts Committee. 

In the report on the impact of the Government’s Cultural Recovery Fund, the MPs warned of the survival threat to festivals and challenges facing the entire creative sector. 

The MPs said a Government-backed insurance scheme was vital to support festivals organisers who could not get cover to indemnify their events against the risk of cancellations forced by Covid-19. 

Committee chair Meg Hillier MP said:“The Government must urgently consider support other than cash, such as insurance indemnity or parts of the sector risk as second summer of forced inactivity with all the devastating consequences to their survival.”

UK Music Chief Executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin gave his reaction to BBC News, saying: “One of the big issues we are finding is lack of insurance and it’s affecting thousands of event organisers. We’ve been talking about the issues the sector faces in terms of lack of insurance for months. 

“Events are being told they are going to be able to happen again from July,  but they don’t have the confidence to start putting money into events without insurance. Insurance isn’t available on the commercial market. 

“The challenge is lots of events don’t even want to start planning for fear of putting money into things and having a date moved. 

“This is not only heart-breaking, but existential. Insurance is absolutely critical and some sort of action from Government on insurance is needed, in the same way that it did for film and TV. 

“We need the same for the music industry and the wider events industry to make sure that festivals can take place, to make sure that events can take place because without it there is a real lack of confidence in the sector at the moment.”

Jamie said that it was vital the Government revealed the results of its Events Research Programme.

He told BBC News: “It is absolutely critical that we can see the results of the research programme, we can understand the conditions there is going to be for us as a sector because without we won’t be having a summer of music festivals.”

You can read Jamie’s comments in the Guardian below:

The Guardian