FESTIVAL NEWS

Promoter FKP Scorpio has announced its Bråvalla festival in Sweden will go cashless this year. Customer’s wristbands will contain an RFID chip. This chip can be loaded with money and all sales in the festival area will only be made through the wristband. “This means that the festival will become smoother and safer and quicker,” says a spokesman adding “the big difference is that during the festivals the ‘money’ on each wristband and cannot be misplaced. As soon as someone swipes the bracelet, they will also find out how much money they have left on the wristband.” Bråvalla festival takes place in Norrköping 26-28 June. Headliners include Iron Maiden, Kings of Leon and Kanye West.

and Intelligent venue Solutions (IVS) expects over £6 million cashless transactions at UK festivals this summer. The British Event Technology & RFID Specialist is confirmed to deploy at over 50 major live events in 2014 and the deployment of RFID enabled wristband technology is expected to increase by a huge 70% this year. With over 3.5 million smart wristbands being issued across the summer season, event organisers will be anticipating a significant increase in on-site spending. The UK-based company has this year already deployed its systems at UEFA Champions League Final in Lisbon, the French Open in Paris, the Grand National at Aintree as well as a debut appearance at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Glasgow recently which saw them deliver a managed fast card payment system for VIP guests.

Mobile phone carrier Orange has announced it will stream highlights from the 13-15 June Orange Warsaw Festival, following a partnership with music media company, LoveLive. Orange Music Live will be available across eight European countries including France, Poland, Spain, Romania, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Armenia and Moldova providing selected live video streaming of performances by major international artists, to be unveiled in the coming weeks. Accessible across multiple screens including smartphones, tablets, computers and televisions, Orange Music Live will be enhanced by Orange’s 4G and fibre networks, where available.

In the UK the Police have launched a manhunt after a man died following a beating at the Parklife festival on June 7th in Manchester after his girlfriend was hit with an inflatable doll, police said. The BBC say that Robert Hart, 26, was knocked unconscious in front of the main stage at the Parklife Weekender on Saturday at around 9.15pm. He was given CPR at the scene by two off-duty medical personnel. He died on Jun 11 in hospital. The offender is described as a mixed race male, aged in his late 20′s and around 6ft 1 tall. He has a muscular build and short, dark hair which was shaved at the sides. He was also wearing shorts and a blue, bomber-style jacket with the letter ‘A’ in white on the front. Police have also issued an efit. Anyone with information should contact the incident room on 0161 85 69283 or by email (and please attach any footage):  mit.syndicate8@gmp.police.uk 

The 14,000-capacity We Love Green festival in France – The nature-centric opener of the Parisian festival season –  has again been powered entirely by eco-friendly fuel sources, according to organisers. The event is one of Europe’s most sustainable festivals set in the majestic scenery of Parc de Bagatelle in Paris and a winner of the Greener Festival Award. We Love Green has a wide range of environmental initiatives covering many aspects of the production including local service providers, saving water and energy, recycling, managing waste, car sharing, deposit system for glasses, providing free drinkable water fountains, safe storage for bikes and adopting renewable energy across the site.

Event organisers in the UK have called for a national ban on Sky Lanterns branding them dangerous to the public, livestock and buildings. Already banned at a number of events including the Glastonbury Festival after one of organiser Michael Eavis’s cows died after ingesting the remains of a lantern, the new campaign by the National Outdoor Events Association has a three-pronged approach aiming to raise awareness among the public, event organisers and to gain a parliamentary debate in the bid for an outright ban. Launched in the South West at England’s biggest agricultural show, the Royal Bath and West in Somerset, the campaign is now being rolled out nationally. Susan Tanner, NOEA’s chief executive said: “In essence balls of fire are being sent into the air uncontrolled and unmonitored causing damage to animals and property. Ultimately there is a risk to human life; we have already seen firefighters injured while tackling a blaze caused by a lantern.” Back in 2011 Michael Eavis said  that once the lanterns fall to the ground, the metal frames partially disintegrate: “The wire is then eaten by the cows and sheep and can actually kill them by causing bleeding or blockages in their stomachs. I have had a couple of my own cows die from eating the metal-like needles” adding “We’re not arable farmers, but when the crops get tinder dry they will go up in no time if a lit lantern were to land on them. I would like to see them banned nationwide.”

Eavis calls for sky lantern ban

Following on  from the BBC Countryfile investigation into the damage and injury that can be caused to the countryside by Chinese Lanterns, The BBC One show on Tuesday 2^nd August highlighted the ever growing problem with Chinese or ‘sky’ lanterns, the paper lanterns that fly into the night sky when lit. The One Show looked at fire damage to cars from rogue lanterns, the real risk of houses fires – and even personal injury to both adults and children from molten wax.

The Civil Aviation Authority has asked the public  not to use sky lanterns near airports. The Coastguard have had said they have had hundreds of false emergency calls are caused by sky lanterns. The NFU wants a total ban on Sky lanterns, saying they cause damage to farmland, the countryside and to grazing animals and the Chief Fire Officers Association says that there should be a Government review and a ban should be looked  at – saying that safety issues outweigh other considerations. Glastonbury  organiser Michael Eavis has banned sky lanterns  at the Festivals (although they are still snaked in) but Michael says that there is a real risk of tents catching fire – and cattle have already been  fatally injured . Michaels says that they should be banned as they are a “real real menace”

There are safer Sky Orbs with solid fuel cells and flame retardant paper, and following instructions will improve safety, but  in Germany and Australia sky lanterns have been banned and many like Michael Eavis want a total ban, NOW.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0134hbr/The_One_Show_02_08_2011/

Please say no to Chinese lanterns

Yes, they are beautiful, yes they are fun, and yes, many have a great emotional attachment to them. And now it seems that no celebration is complete without them. But they are a menace to farmers, crops and farm animals, to the wildlife and the environment and even to landing aircraft and boats at sea. And to festival goers who get burnt. What are they? Those Chinese ‘sky’ paper lanterns that are fuelled by buring oil and float away into the night sky.

Dorset and Somerset Fire Service have reported a marked increase in lantern fires in the past year and Somerset MP David Heath has also called for action to make Chinese Lanterns safe to livestock and wildlife. Speaking in parliament, Mr Heath drew attention to the growing trend to set off Chinese lanterns, which are carried by convection currents across the countryside. Apart from the fire risk, Mr Heath said that the lanterns contain a metal wire which, if it is chopped up into hay or silage can cause harm to cattle and other livestock. Mr Heath said: “This is a growing trend in our part of the world, particularly at the open air festivals like Glastonbury, and I can well understand the attractions. The illuminated paper lanterns look spectacularly beautiful against the night sky. Unfortunately, the problem comes when they land in fields which are subsequently mown and as a result we get fragments of wire in animal feed-stuffs. I certainly don’t want to be a kill joy, and I certainly don’t want to ban them, but I hope the government will take action to ensure they are made in such a way as to avoid the metal wire and replace it with something biodegradable. I gather a lot of these are imported from China, and safe alternatives do exist. It would be far better for the safety of animals if they were the ones that people used from choice.”

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency have also pointed out that over 500 false alarms last year were put down to lanterns being mistaken for flares at sea and the coastguard being called out for no good reason, and now The National Farmers Union and the Civil Aviation Authority have called for a ban on the sale of “sky” lanterns

We read this interesting post on a festival discussion board “They are officially banned at Glastonbury festival and have been for a couple of years if you read the festival small print but more and more do seem to come in each year. They were not so bad years ago when it was just a few being let off from the stone circle but now you get all sorts of muppets trying to launch them in the middle of the crowd down at the stages. Frequently they don’t get airborne enough and just come down on someone’s unsuspecting head or tip hot wax on some poor sod about ten people away from the muppet that launched it (or failed to), can’t believe the idiocy of some people. Only a matter of time before one lands amongst the tightly packed nylon tents at Glasto or Reading etc and either the tents or the dry grass around them turns into a major people-cooking disaster.”

The Glastonbury Festival confirmed that it already asked festival goers not to bring lanterns on site – to protect Worthy Farm and the surrounding countryside and told us that the Festival was still actively discouraging lanterns along with wax flares and fireworks except for the official display in 2011. Lattitude has also joined the growing number of festivals banning Sky lanterns. They are pretty, they are lovely – but they are pretty destructive too and if you really do love the countryside then it is best to adopt the policy of  ‘leave no trace’. So please just say “no” to Chinese lanterns.