The Day The Music Industry Stood Silent – London #WeMakeEvents Protests

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Thousands of industry professionals from the live events industry stood silent in front of parliament today, to protest the lack of support that is being given to the live events industries.

Those who gathered at Parliament square stood socially distanced, wearing masks to demonstrate that the events industry can safely bring groups of people together. Protesters wore red to show that the industry is in ‘Red Alert’. At 12:50 the protesters turned their backs to parliament to symbolise how the government has turned its back on the live event’s industry.

The moment thousands of #eventprofs turned their backs on Parliament, protesting the lack of government support to the crippled events industry. @BorisJohnson @RishiSunak @10DowningStreet targeted support is urgently needed to protect hundreds of thousands of jobs! pic.twitter.com/ymqkr6JXvi

— Access All Areas (@Access_AA) September 29, 2020

The industry is calling for a target support after the furlough scheme comes to an end on October 1st, however chancellor Rishi Sunak has said that he only wants to support ‘Viable Jobs’. This has meant that many who normally work in venues that are still closed – such as nightclub bouncers, theatre ushers and staff in many live music venues – might have to be made redundant, even though they may be required in the long term.

Currently live events industry is on its knees, as live events can only go ahead socially distanced which for a lot of venues is not financially feasible. Earlier this month Mayor of London Sadiq Khan pledged £450,000 to London venues, this money is to be split by 141 venues. Many venues have already shut their doors for good and many more will likely do so if the industry isn’t supported further. The government has also provided a £1.57bn aid package and cut VAT for the entertainment sector, but a majority of the aid package is expected to go to theatres.

Why is it so important to support the events industry?

The UK’s leisure events industry – excluding sport – is estimated to be worth £29bn, according to the British Visits and Events Partnership. The industry also supports over a million jobs, with Plasa warning that as many as 600,000 jobs might be lost unless the government intervenes. A Plasa survey found that more than two-thirds of live event businesses reported revenue falls of at least 90 per cent this year, and 7 in 10 had only two months of cash reserves left.

The industry is the first to lockdown but will be the last to start. Hope is that a vaccine or mass testing will help bring the industry back but this could be over a year away.

People taking their places at Parliament Square for #WeMakeEvents silent protest. Everyone following rules as you would expect. #eventprofs pic.twitter.com/uPq34n9qvT

— Exhibition News (@ExhibitionNews) September 29, 2020

We stand with the #WeMakeEvents protest in Parliament Square today.

The Gov’s new job scheme supporting ‘viable’ jobs does little for the U.K. events industry which has all but shutdown.

This sector is worth tens of billions to the economy and supports 1m jobs – IT IS VIABLE! pic.twitter.com/IbOZsWb7Qb

— Skiddle (@skiddle) September 29, 2020

Tomorrow is the #WeMakeEvents campagin global day of action, where venues acroos the world will light up in red to show the industry is still in red alert.