The Harrogate Convention Centre, Harrogate International Festival’s HQ and Ripon Catherdral lit up in red last night as part of a national campaign to highlight the plight of the stricken live entertainment industry.
The “Red Alert” campaign aims to put pressure on the government to give financial support to the industry which has been shut down by the coronavirus lockdown with no clear end in sight.
HIF cancelled its summer season events which has left freelancers working in the sector including artists, events teams, crew and technicians with no work until at least next year.
Harrogate International Festivals chief executive Sharon Canavar warned that without government support the sector could collapse.
She said:
“The impact of COVID-19 has taken our industry to near breaking point, and to support this national campaign, we bathed our Cheltenham Parade base in bright red light – sending an urgent ‘red alert’ to the Government.
“Red is the universal symbol of danger and, as an industry, we are in danger of ceasing to exist!
“It’s an urgent SOS that without support, the arts will not survive.”
Harrogate Convention Centre tweeted its support for the campaign.
Tonight we are showing our support for all the UK’s live event venues #LightItInRed and the amazing staff, suppliers and freelancers in our sector who deliver the live events we love #WeMakeEvents pic.twitter.com/dMXhvuT4rJ
— Harrogate Convention Centre (@HgtConventions) August 11, 2020
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Ripon Cathedral
Harrogate Theatre said they would not be lighting up in red “at a later date” due to concerns over health and safety.
Chief executive David Bown said:
“Of course we want to support the campaign it’s keeping the plight of theatres in people’s consciousness -our technicians are looking into it. The movement is to remind people of what is happening and the impact on the industry.
“It’s the health and safety that we have to be careful with, leaving lights on when no-one is in the building.”
The government said it has launched a £1.57 billion support package for the arts with applications for funding still open.
A government spokesperson said:
“Our £1.57 billion support package is the biggest ever one-off cash injection in UK culture to secure the future of the performing arts and live events, protect jobs in the industry and ensure work continues to flow to freelancers. Throughout this crisis, we have worked with urgency to support the arts and we are committed to delivering this funding quickly and fairly to organisations across the country.”