FESTIVAL FOCUS BOOMTOWN
© The Big Lad Photographer
Fields full of dreams
Festival organisers discuss market trends, site changes and operational developments for 2022 you look at every situation W hen that you have ever faced, there will
always be positives and there will always be negatives. It’s a fact that Ciro Romano, managing director of Neapolitan Music, agrees with. He is currently putting the finishing touches to his roster of festivals, Love Supreme, Nocturne Live, and Kite, a new festival for 2022, which he hopes will appeal to Oxfordshire’s and Gloucestershire’s educated and gentrified demographic. “I am negative about costs, but I am positive about ticket sales,” Romano explains with a hint of positivity in his voice. “Managing costs is difficult, but I am pretty positive. Ticket sales are going well, but no matter what we do, production costs have gone up 25 per cent.” Romano has slightly increased ticket prices for Love Supreme. However, it’s a move that has not been met with much resistance. He is not concerned. Festivalgoers continue to purchase tickets, and the pressures on supply and the increase in production costs “are what they are”. Romano is candid as he talks of the upcoming festival season. For instance, Love Supreme has increased capacity from 20,000 to 25,000, resulting in a slight expansion of the event site, and he describes Kite, which is set to take place at Kirtlington Park, Oxford, as a “festival of ideas and music for curious, inquisitive, and cultural minds”. Kite will take place from June 10-12, and feature Grace Jones, David Miliband, and Reginald D Hunter — all spread across
seven stages at the Oxfordshire estate. As it is the festival’s first year, Romano has been careful to consider the festival’s price point. But does he feel brave to launch an event when the industry is faced with challenges? “We were supposed to launch Kite in 2020 then the pandemic hit,” he says. “Then we were supposed to launch it in 2021 and then it was a case of: ‘How long are we going to wait? Let’s just do it’. “The idea for Kite came about after I visited Hay Festival in 2018. It was 4pm and I had listened to a talk, and I thought it would be great if there was music, real music. That was the beginning of the idea and so music and ideas and spoken word just morphed. It’s great to have a festival that puts music and ideas on an equal footing.”
CHRIS SMITH
© Elliot Caunce
CAKE AND PURCHASE ORDERS
U-Live’s head of operations, Mandy Johnson, is head of production at Kite, Love Supreme and Nocturne Live, and is helping Romano source suppliers for 2022. It’s a task that Romano describes as “difficult”. His response is tame. Chris Smith, festival director of WOMAD, and Melvin Benn, managing director of Festival Republic, respectively describe trying to source kit and find contractors as a “fucking nightmare” and a “bloody nightmare”. Smith explains: “The last two years have had a serious impact on the industry. There are increased costs and an upsurge in events. We have less stuff, less staff, and more events, and some people have come into the industry quite aggressive.
CIRO ROMANO www.standoutmagazine.co.uk n 45
