COVID-19's Impact on Venues & Festivals
We’re 7 months into a pandemic and what have I seen? I’ve seen the whole music industry take the biggest throat punch!
The most depressing statistic I read was many of our venues could be closed by the end of 2021... What does that leave? Not sure? I’m generally optimistic but at this point I’m worried there won’t be many places left to go out to anymore. I want the world to know just how the venues and festivals were impacted by Covid-19. Behind the scenes many people are still out of work and or are struggling to stay afloat. It had me asking is there a future for live music venues and festivals? To get some perspective I spoke with venue owners/operators Matt Ebel (BlakBar), Phil Muz (Aviary), Tyson Boyd (Starlite Room & River City Revival House); and also festival organizers Shawn Petsche (Sled Island Festival) and Mike Magee (Pouzza Fest). Here’s what they had to say......
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Noreen from Cups N Cakes - How has Covid-19 impacted your business?
Matt from BlakBar - After being closed since March, we decided to reopen on June 4 to allow a buffer zone to see what would happen when Stage 2 started on May 14. Our July and August have been brutal with about a 40% decline in business, which is a lot for small businesses.
Phil from Aviary - Sales are down 93% from April - Sept in 2019. Its been very tough. I've been crazy busy with my deck & fence company & keeping the venue alive!
Tyson from Starlite - For Starlite, business has completely stopped altogether since March. 13th. For Revival, we have been able to open on restricted terms making it a bit more challenging to operate, however it is nice to be able to have some movement and we have received great support from our customer base which has been extremely encouraging.
Noreen - How has Covid-19 impacted your festival?
Shawn from Sled Island - This was our second cancellation in our 14 years, the other was due to the 2012 floods. Basically, this meant cancelling a year's worth of work, notifying artists, attendees, venues, suppliers, sponsors and partners that the thing they were looking forward to for a variety of reasons, from fun to work, wasn't going to happen. It also meant a lot of uncertainty.
Mike from PouzzaFest - This year was supposed to be our big 10th anniversary celebration so we’d put together a killer line-up of around 170+ international and local bands. We had all sorts of extra events planned…panel discussions, art shows, stuff for kids, secret shows etc. We waited as long as we reasonably could before announcing the cancellation. It sucked.
Noreen - Was there any financial compensation available to help you through?
Matt from BlakBar - Yes we did get assistance from the government through the small business support program. Also, we were lucky enough that our landlord went forward and recieved assistance, and the bank helped but unfortunately the real test will be later on when our bills/loans are at 100% again, and business is still as slow due to Covid.
Phil from Aviary - We haven't been able to fit into any government programs. There’s always just one or two stipulations that rejects us.
Tyson from Starlite - Only just recently this week, we have been able to access some emergency relief funding. It’s a good step forward, but we are continuing to advocate for our industry for additional support to a safe reopening.
Shawn from Sled Island - Yes, we received relief funding from CADA, Canadian Heritage and the Canada Wage Subsidy, plus a grant from the Rozsa Foundation to start up The Lemonade Stand.
Noreen - Are there any grants that could help you out?
Phil from Aviary - I've met with a few grant people with Alberta & Edmonton arts council & theres no grants for our 'for profit', I use the term profit lightly!
Tyson from Starlite - There are some small regional grants available to help purchase PPE's and convert businesses to be more Covid friendly, however they do not really work for venues - as they are intended more for retail type shops and restaurants/pubs. It is $5,000 to help adapt to reopen safely.
Noreen - With the festival not happening this year did you and the festival lose money?
Mike from PouzzaFest - Absolutely. All the bands, partners agents and staff were unbelievably supportive and cool about everything. A lot of the bands even signed on for the 2021 edition. But we’d already spent hundreds of hours booking, designing and planning the festival. None of the owners make any money off Pouzza so every year we take any profit and put it towards making the next year bigger and better. Not having the festival this year is also a hit for the production staff, bar staff, vendors and bands that were counting on those wages too.
Noreen - Have you come up with any new innovative ways to draw in more business?
Matt from BlakBar - We haven't really changed what we do as we still have some of our selling points ie: great vibe, atmosphere, food, tunes, clientele, and since we are open later than most places, we are trying to capitalize on that.
Phil from Aviary - We started up Trivia Nights on Thursdays to fill the calendar & it’s becoming our busiest night! My brother/biz partner, Mark hosts the night & neighbourhood folks & musicians are digging it hard!
Tyson from Starlite - Absolutely, necessity is the mother of invention - and we have had to look at ways to not only draw people in, but keep our mental health and well being up.
Noreen - Is there a future for live music and festivals again?
Mike from PouzzaFest - Yes! There is 100% a future for Pouzza! We don’t know exactly what it will look like yet but it will exist in some form or another in 2021. Obviously public safety is our biggest concern but we’re already planning some cool shit for next year.
Noreen - What can we do to show our support?
Phil from Aviary - Supporting live music venues is extremely crucial right now. So showing up for events with friends is obviously the best way to show support! I’ll be curating a lot of shows coming up as I’ve had a huge wave of artists reaching out for gigs right now. Just gotta organize it all and announce it! Do your part and just show up!
Tyson from Starlite - As much as we love the support that comes our way specific to the Starlite Room and RCRH, it's important to remember that our whole industry is in peril - and we cannot survive without our whole industry making it out together - it will be a domino effect the closure of venues no matter how big or small across the country. That is a broad statement, it is one that we have been enforcing to all levels of government - for now we encourage folks to follow along our #SupportCanadianVenues channels - www.supportcanadianvenues.ca - as we update regularly with how we are asking for help and encouraging others to get involved.
Shawn from Sled Island - Honestly, it's probably different for every festival. As the pandemic drags on, there will naturally be less enthusiasm for fundraising initiatives, and that's when these festivals will need them most. So, simply, donations help for sure. But ultimately, I think the biggest support needed is for people to keep talking about and affirming to others how important music and art is to their lives, not just normally, but also as a means to get through our unique and challenging times. Buying a burger from your favourite venue, or an album from your favourite band on Bandcamp Friday help, but so too does just listening to music, watching films, talking about how great they are and sharing them with friends. Sometimes it's as much the kind word or reminder that someone cares about what you do as a musician or organizer, that pushes people through the hardest times.
...but also, if you happen to be a millionaire and are sick of waiting around for taxation to make up for the gaps left by sporadic philanthropy, get in touch! We, and festivals like us, could use the support, and last I checked, we generate more economic activity per dollar invested than all of the usual funnels for big pools of money, heh.
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Well after speaking with these sources I will say I do more feel more hopeful now. We will get to enjoy live music together again. So long as we show some love and support to the venues we still have and keep talking and sharing our love of live music and what it means to us! If this pandemic has taught me anything it’s to not take for granted the good things we have in life and music truly is such a good thing! Show some love today!
Love Always,
Green Noreen