Let’s start with a pretty obvious statement: the UK summer festival season was a hot one. Great for those crowds filling the fields, singing their hearts out with their favourite artists on stage. For those of us behind the cameras and production desks, it was a little more challenging; long days in little shade, hot trucks, equipment to keep cool, and a lot of dust to contend with. I feel like we brought most of the UK’s festival fields back with us to Sheffield.
The oXyFire teams have been up and down the country, working across a diverse range of festivals and live events, from Zimfest, to Reminisce, Harlow Town Show, and Reggae Land. And now the dust is settling, it feels like a good time to look back at what this summer taught us about live production.
Collaborating for cohesive content
We talk a lot about collaboration and communication in live production. More often than not there are several production companies working across different requirements: iMAG, livestream, social media content creation, BTS etc, so making sure the teams are coordinated and not disturbing each other is an important element in your planning.
However, this summer, we didn’t just work alongside other crews; we co-produced, shared camera feeds and tally, and integrated workflows, and the collaboration came naturally.
At Reggae Land, we took some of PRG’s iMAG close-up positions for our livestream, and they took some of our live jib content, which brought an additional element to each production. Both teams got some really great unique angles, without cluttering the stage or disturbing the artists with additional operators and kit on stage.
And as we all know, live production always requires last minute changes and fixes, so the feeling of that bigger collective all working together to make sure the vibes stay high and the crowd has an incredible time.
That shared mindset is vital. Although it’s important to understand who owns which part of the production, the shared goal is delivering the very best experience to the audience, whether they’re in the front row or watching online.
Livestreams are no longer a nice to have for festivals
There is still some old-fashioned thinking that if festivals give their livestreams away for free, it’s going to impact future ticket sales. And it’s something that we just don’t see; in fact, we find that the most successful festivals are the ones that are sharing great content that doesn’t simply try to replicate the in-person experience but instead give a sense of the overall scale and feel of the event. So, you’re looking for beautiful, wide, atmospheric shots showing the festival’s colour and vibrancy, mixed in with ultra close-ups of fans having the best time, as well as capturing the headline artists and their most loved songs. We’ve loved seeing the stats coming in from our livestreams, which have attracted audiences from across the globe, engaging with the content in a way that extends the life of the festival beyond the physical event itself.
The opportunity for festival livestreams is to give people another way to experience it, discover artists, share moments with friends and get a feel for an event they might want to attend next year.
Content that makes the crowds come back for more
Whilst the festival crowds are singing their hearts out in the fields, the festival organisers’ thoughts are already fully on next year’s event.
Early bird tickets are a key marketing milestone, and there’s nothing more important than ensuring your socials are filled with the very best highlights to make sure this year’s attendees are ready to get their sparkles and bucket hats on again next year.
The footage captured over a festival weekend becomes part of its marketing engine: the moments that get shared, the highlights that remind people why they came, and the content that convinces someone who wasn’t there that they absolutely need to be next time.
This summer’s incredible weather will no doubt play a big part in those memories. But the strongest festival content isn’t just about sunshine and big crowds. It’s about capturing the atmosphere, the energy and those little moments that make an event feel like your festival.
So, what are we taking into next summer?
For us, it’s pretty simple.
Plan carefully, but stay flexible. Talk to the other teams. Share what you can. Think about the audience beyond the people standing in front of the stage. And, above all, remember that everyone is there for the same reason: to create an experience people will remember.
Because when the dust has settled, the kit is packed away and everyone has finally got the last of the glitter out of their shoes, what matters is what you’ve captured and what that content can do for the festival long after the crowd has gone home.
