23rd March 2021. Parklife has announced headliners for their mid-September festival in Heaton Park, Manchester. The lineup announced includes Disclosure, DaBaby, and artists like slowthai, Dave, Megan Thee Stallion, Carl Cox and Eric Prydz among many more. For those interested pre-sale tickets are available starting 24th March while general admission tickets will start on 25th March. Over 250,000 pre-registered for tickets so be quick. 

19th March 2021. Hit The North Festival in Newcastle announces 23rd October 2021 as their confirmed festival date. There will be new venues and new artists with an impressive lineup of 130 bands including DMA’S, Sports Team, Baby Queen, Greentea Peng, The Blinders, Ryan McMullen, L Devine Andrew Cushin and Just Mustard. Tickets are still available and on sale now.

19th March 2021. Latitude Festival organisers have confirmed that their event for 22nd – 25th July will incorporate all appropriate safety protocols in light of the coronavirus pandemic. With most UK adults expected to have been vaccinated by July they also confirmed that the festival will run at full capacity. Headliners have been confirmed as Lewis Capaldi, Bastille and First Aid Kit. Tickets for all packages are still available and on sale now. 

17th March 2021. ZENfest has announced a new date for their long running house music festival of Sunday 4th September. The festival is set to take place at Brentwood's Kelvedon Hall in Essex and the line-up confirmed so far includes Richy Ahmed, ANOTR, Rossi, Pat Wilson, Max Dean, Ryan Resso, DJ Caspa and Funk Cartel. General release and VIP tickets are still available and on sale now. 

16th March 2021. FI Fest has announced headliners for their summer festival near Windsor. Lightening Seeds and Toploader will perform on Sunday 29th August. The family friendly festival features a KidsZone and Hospitality Suite for those wishing to splash out with private bar and toilet facilities. For those interested tickets are on sale now and still available 

16th March 2021. The new family friendly festival is scheduled to take place in Mowbray Park, Sunderland on 7th and 8th August 2021. Headliners just announced include the Kaiser Chiefs and Deacon Blue. The inaugural festival was supposed to launch in 2020 but was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic so 2021 will be the first Lamplight Festival. Tickets are still available for those interested.

New Date: BeCider Seaside Festival Announces May 2021 Dates 

15th March 2021. Bredy Farm has announced 3 new dates for their series of festivals for this year kicking off with the 4-day BeCider Seaside 12 event on 28th – 31st May. The festivals are held within Bredy Gate, a natural amphitheatre nestled into the rolling hills on the Jurassic Coast of Dorset. Headlining the May festival is popular UK electro trio Subgiant Tickets for all 3 festivals are on sale now.

11th March 2021. Creamfields the biggest UK dance music festival has announced impressive headliners for the festival. Chemical Brothers will perform on Friday 27th August and David Guetta on the Saturday. They join artists like Armin Van Buuren, Carl Cox, Charlotte De Witte, Eric Prydz Nina Kraviz Pete Tong and  Tiesto among many others. The 70,000-visitor festival has already been sold out but anyone interested can still join their waiting list should tickets become available.

10th March 2021. Tickets go on sale from 12th March for this popular multi-genre festival with dates announced for 17th – 19th September 2021 in downtown Las Vegas. The headliners have also been announced including Billie Eilish, Green Day and Tame Impala. Early bird tickets sold out quickly and the organisers are running an RSVP service for those interested in getting any tickets that become available on general release on 12th March.  

9th March 2021 (Hackney Gazette). Jamie xx and Kano are the first headline acts announced as All Points East returns to Victoria Park over August Bank Holiday. The four-day music festival, which was cancelled last year, has now moved from its usual May slot due to Covid restrictions. With tickets on sale from 10am on March 10, other acts lined up to perform on Saturday August 28 include Northampton rapper slowthai, whose latest album Tyron came out in Feb, All Points East favourite Little Simz, hotly tipped newcomer Arlo Parks whose debut album was released in January, and singer songwriter Tom Misch.
By Bridget Galton    

8th March 2021 (Skiddle). One of Scotland's biggest electronic music festivals - Terminal V returns to Edinburgh over the Halloween weekend this year (Royal Highland Exhibition Centre from Saturday 30th October - Sunday 31st October 2021), for an unprecedented rave event. Launched back in April 2017, what was originally a one-day event held over two stages, has now grown into one of the largest and most unique music festivals, found anywhere across Europe. With Terminal V now branching out globally, with the launch of their new Berlin event for 2022, Edinburgh remains the flagship and home of the brand with thousands now flocking to the event from all over Scotland and beyond.

7th March 2021 (Your EDM). British festival directors called an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the return live music. Artists and fans may have to take the coronavirus vaccine - and show proof - before attending UK music festivals this summer. Festival organizers are considering this approach following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s roadmap announcement for exiting lockdown. With live music set to return on June 21, festivals are selling out in record time and demand is high. To make festival season happen, organizers are weighing out the options for on-site COVID-19 testing, vaccine passports, and plenty of other health and safety protocols.
By Karlie Powell 

5th March 2021 (Bishop Stortford Independent). With The Boomtown Rats, The Undertones and Happy Mondays as headliners. Stone Valley South, the weekender for ska, mod, indie, punk and northern soul fans, returns to East Herts this summer. Organisers originally hoped to host the three-day music festival for a third time in May, but with Covid-19 restrictions on events not expected to be lifted before June 21, they have rescheduled to August 13-15. The Stone Valley brand was established in Stanhope, County Durham, where it has grown into a sell-out annual celebration.
By Sinead Corr 

3rd March 2021 (Music Week). Ahead of Rishi Sunak’s Budget, there were key priorities for the music sector including the furlough scheme and government-backed insurance for festivals. There was some good news on the extension of the furlough scheme to September, a business rates holiday until June (and a 66% rate until April), an extension of the Self-employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) to 600,000 new starters, and £300 million for the Culture Recovery Fund. But there are still concerns for the live sector and the self-employed who don't qualify for support.
By Andre Paine 

2nd March 2021 (Music Week). In his Budget this week (March 3), Rishi Sunak will announce a £400 million boost for the creative industries. But while the funding has been welcome, music industry figures are calling for other key measures from the Chancellor to help the sector survive the pandemic. It follows the government’s announcement on the roadmap out of Covid restrictions by June 21, with socially distanced performances taking place no earlier than May 17. UK Music, the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) and DCMS Committee chair Julian Knight MP have all stressed the importance of a government-backed insurance scheme covering Covid if festivals are to go ahead this year.
By Andre Paine 

2nd March 2021 (Insurance Business UK). A host of musical performers have lent their voices to the call for the UK government to underwrite cancellation costs of live events such as music festivals. The acts, which include Jools Holland, The Chemical Brothers, Depeche Mode, Johnny Marr, Sir Cliff Richard, Robert Plant, Roger Daltrey, Amy McDonald, Frank Turner and Judas Priest, say that the move will help restart the live entertainment industry this summer. This follows a recent YouGov survey that found that half of the UK population want to go see a live event this summer, while 75% believe such events are an important part of British culture.
By Gabriel Olano 

27th February 2021 (NME). Since the roadmap announcement both Reading & Leeds and Creamfields sold out almost instantly this week. Live Nation has sold nearly 200,000 tickets to UK festivals this week since the government set out the roadmap out of the country’s coronavirus lockdown. While this year’s Glastonbury, set for late June, has already been cancelled, and May’s The Great Escape is going online instead, a number of festivals taking place later in summer revealed this week that they would be going ahead as planned as the government outlined plans for England to gradually exit lockdown by the end of June.
By Will Richards 

25th February 2021 (iNews). The roadmap announcement has paved the way for events with large crowds to take place in the summer. Music festivals could be given the go-ahead this summer following the Government’s lockdown roadmap announcement earlier this week. Boris Johnson said all limits on social distancing could be removed by 21 June, paving the way for events featuring large crowds to take place. Although the June date was given as a “best case scenario” by ministers, several festival organisers have said this week they are planning on hosting their events in the summer. Here’s a list of all the festivals which are planning on going ahead. 
By George Martin 

24th February 2021 (U Discover Music). The news comes after the release of England’s ‘roadmap’ out of lockdown, which predicts that the government will remove all legal limits on social contact by June. In a post celebrating the news, the Reading and Leeds festivals Twitter page posted, “Following the government’s recent announcement, we can’t wait to get back to the fields this summer. LET’S GO.” Bosses in charge of the festivals have yet to confirm detailed plans for the events, including whether social distancing measures and temperature checks will be incorporated into the organization of this year’s festivals.
By Eleanor Forrest 

22nd February 2021 (Audio Media Int). UK nightclubs and festivals will return to the UK by the end of June, according to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s schedule to remove all COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. The government’s roadmap to reopening the UK economy states that all social distancing measures could lift on June 21 at the earliest. The government will continue to monitor COVID infection rates and will change in accordance with the data.The easing of lockdown restrictions has been broken down into four phases.  
By Daniel Gumble 

18th February 2021.  Due to the current COVID-19 restrictions, organisers of the Northern Pride Festival, sponsored by Barclays UK, have made the decision to postpone their physical event and UK Pride status until 22 – 24 July 2022. Once again organisers have made the difficult decision to postpone the UK Pride event. In their announcement it was stated that this is not a choice made lightly and, although they would love to deliver a fantastic, inclusive event to celebrate the diversity of the community, their first priority is keeping attendees, volunteers and emergency services safe. 

18th February 2021 (Pollstar). Some of the UK's most experienced live entertainment professionals have formed the UK's first dedicated live music body to face "unprecedented challenges from COVID-19, Brexit and beyond." LIVE, which stands for Live Music Industry, Venue And Entertainment, aims to be "the voice of the UK’s live music ecosystem including artists, managers, venues, festivals, promoters, agents, production and ticketing," according to the announcement. Membership is made up of the 13 principal industry associations across the sector, including the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), Association for Electronic Music (AFEM) and more.
By Gideon Gottfried 

18th February 2021 (City AM). The UK’s nightlife scene is at risk of extinction without urgent financial support, the government has been warned. A group of 40 cross-party MPs today urged the prime minister and chancellor Rishi Sunak to bring forward a sector-specific grant package and lay out a detailed roadmap for reopening venues to avoid “irreversible losses” for businesses. They added that a collapse of nightclubs and bars would create “ghost towns” across the country that would hinder the wider economic recovery. Boris Johnson is expected to lay out a plan for easing lockdown on 22 February, including target dates for reopening different parts of the economy.
By James Warrington 

12th February 2021 (Lonely Planet). The cancellation of Glastonbury and Coachella have cast doubt over the return of festivals to the northern hemisphere in 2021. However, some organizers are still optimistic. Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza are being announced for late August and early September. And Spain's Primavera Sound has not yet cancelled its festivals in Barcelona, Porto and LA. So what's happening? With most of Europe in lockdown and infection rates still high in the US, can festivals and large cultural events still go ahead? Glastonbury and Coachella, arguably two of the biggest music festivals on the planet, are cancelled for the second year in a row.
By Sasha Brady 

11th February 2021 (Access All Areas). The Arena Resilience Alliance (ARA), an initiative created by the European Arenas Association (EAA), will launch a manifesto next week, outlining the next steps required to build towards the safe return of live events across Europe. The industry body will unveil its action plan at the end of its second virtual conference, #AGameofTwoHalves: The Return Leg on 18 February. An array of music and sport event professionals will speak at the event, during which the results of a series of pilot concerts at the 6,000-capacity Rockhal arena in Luxembourg will be discussed.
By Christopher Barrett 

10th February 2021 (Far Out Mag). Good news! This summer festival season has been blighted the world over for one very obvious reason, but The Netherlands have just offered the latest glimmer of hope after stating that they aim to get shows back on the road after July 1st. Last month, the Dutch government announced a cancellation fund of more than €300million in order to allow event organisers to reschedule shows panned before July 1st to the second half of the year, with security that they will be covered if the pandemic stops events going ahead any time after that date. The safety net fund will cover all events that attract a minimum of 3,000 visitors.
By Tom Taylor 

9th February 2021 (Access All Areas). UK live event production charity Stagehand has raised more than £1m to support live event workers. The Covid-19 Crew Relief Fund was set up in September and has since issued more than 900 grants to struggling stage and road crew. Applications for its third round of crew welfare grants of £500 remain open until February 12. The #ILoveLive prize draw campaign was set up to raise funds and the charity said it will launch a second prize draw on 17 February, with acts including The1975, Foo Fighters and Jack Garratt donating prizes. The charity said it received donations from artists, managers, anonymous donors, and other organisations
By Joe Gallop 

8th February 2021 (NME). Over 280,000 fans signed a petition calling for visa-free travel for artists and crew, with MPs told that Brexit could "destroy British DIY music – arguably one of the UK's greatest exports" A Parliamentary debate on a petition calling for visa-free touring for UK artists and crew post-Brexit ended in the government essentially ignoring the idea and doubling down on the EU being at fault. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit trade deal failed to secure visa-free travel for UK artists and their crew wishing to tour Europe (adding huge costs to future live music tours of the continent and preventing rising and developing artists from being able to afford it), prompting a row to erupt over who was responsible. 
By Andrew Trendell 

7th February 2021 (City AM). Over the course of the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption and harm to the live music industry. Lockdown affected physical sales. The shutting of public venues, such as restaurants and bars, caused lost revenue from background music services and performance income. Undoubtedly, significant restrictions to our everyday lives have forced the music industry to veer even more heavily towards the web. Music festivals, concert tours and award shows continue to be cancelled or postponed as restrictions in the UK show no signs of easing significantly any time soon.
By Gregor Pryor 

4th February 2021 (MixMag). Music venues in the UK are set to trial a ‘health passport’ system, as the live music sector plans towards safely reopening. The health passport has been designed by the You Check app, which originally launched in mid-2019 as a ticket/ID system as a means to circumvent touts, as well as help link promoters directly to their audiences. Since the pandemic halted music events, You Check has adapted its notification system to help with track and track by linking attendees and integrating test results. Now it can be used to alert event attendees to possible infections, direct them to testing facilities
By Patrick Hinton