Festival Republic is a UKmusic promoter. It was founded as Mean Fiddler Group in 1982 by Irish-born chairman John Vincent Power,[1] as a venue-management and music-promotion group. After the group was taken over by Hamsard Ltd in 2005, the focus became more concentrated on festivals, and in 2007 the venues along with the Mean Fiddler name were sold on, with the remaining company being renamed Festival Republic.[2] Melvin Benn is the current managing director.
The group was founded in 1982 by Irish-born chairman John Vincent Power, with a venue called simply Mean Fiddler.[1] At the end of the 1980s they took control of the Reading Festival from Harold Pendleton, beginning a move into festivals.[3] After acquiring the LA2 in Charing Cross Road in 2000, they were renamed to become the Mean Fiddler Music Group.
In April 2005, they accepted a takeover bid from Hamsard Ltd,[4] a co-operative company 50.1% owned by Live Nation UK (formerly the entertainment division of Clear Channel UK but now part of Live Nation International) and 49.9% owned by Irish event organiser MCD.
In 2006, the Mean Fiddler Music Group reduced its touring and promotion activities to concentrate on running festivals. It maintained control of the Reading and Leeds festivals and announced a new addition, Latitude Festival.
In 2007, the Mean Fiddler Music Group was sold along with several venues to Mama Group Plc in order to allow Festival Republic to concentrate fully on promoting festivals. As part of the sale, Mama Group acquired the rights to the Mean Fiddler trademark.[2][5]
Festival promotion and production
Festival Republic's flagship events are the Reading and Leeds Festivals. These are a pair of annual events which take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, sharing the same bill. In addition they also run the Latitude Festival in Suffolk, the Wireless Festival and the Community Festival in London, EDC UK in Milton Keynes, and the Download Festival in Leicestershire.[6] They also produce a BBC Proms In The Park and BBC Radio 2 Live In Hyde Park, which both take place on the same weekend in September in London's Hyde Park.
They have previously been responsible for Big Chill festival, which last ran in 2011, and were the operators of the Glastonbury Festival from 2002 until 2012.
^"Review: Hove Festival (Norway)" 2015-09-23 at the Wayback MachineCrack In The Road
External links
January 07, 2023
festival, republic, music, promoter, founded, mean, fiddler, group, 1982, irish, born, chairman, john, vincent, power, venue, management, music, promotion, group, after, group, taken, over, hamsard, 2005, focus, became, more, concentrated, festivals, 2007, ven. Festival Republic is a UK music promoter It was founded as Mean Fiddler Group in 1982 by Irish born chairman John Vincent Power 1 as a venue management and music promotion group After the group was taken over by Hamsard Ltd in 2005 the focus became more concentrated on festivals and in 2007 the venues along with the Mean Fiddler name were sold on with the remaining company being renamed Festival Republic 2 Melvin Benn is the current managing director Festival RepublicTypePrivate limited companyIndustryMusic promoterFounded1982 41 years ago 1982 Headquarters2nd Floor Regent Arcade House 19 25 Argyll Street London W1F 7TSKey peopleMelvin Benn Director Denis Desmond Director Stuart Douglas Director Paul Latham Director Elizabeth Willard Director Websitewww wbr festivalrepublic wbr com Contents 1 History 2 Festival promotion and production 3 Former festivals 4 Former venues 5 References 6 External linksHistory EditThe group was founded in 1982 by Irish born chairman John Vincent Power with a venue called simply Mean Fiddler 1 At the end of the 1980s they took control of the Reading Festival from Harold Pendleton beginning a move into festivals 3 After acquiring the LA2 in Charing Cross Road in 2000 they were renamed to become the Mean Fiddler Music Group In April 2005 they accepted a takeover bid from Hamsard Ltd 4 a co operative company 50 1 owned by Live Nation UK formerly the entertainment division of Clear Channel UK but now part of Live Nation International and 49 9 owned by Irish event organiser MCD In 2006 the Mean Fiddler Music Group reduced its touring and promotion activities to concentrate on running festivals It maintained control of the Reading and Leeds festivals and announced a new addition Latitude Festival In 2007 the Mean Fiddler Music Group was sold along with several venues to Mama Group Plc in order to allow Festival Republic to concentrate fully on promoting festivals As part of the sale Mama Group acquired the rights to the Mean Fiddler trademark 2 5 Festival promotion and production EditFestival Republic s flagship events are the Reading and Leeds Festivals These are a pair of annual events which take place simultaneously on the Friday Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend sharing the same bill In addition they also run the Latitude Festival in Suffolk the Wireless Festival and the Community Festival in London EDC UK in Milton Keynes and the Download Festival in Leicestershire 6 They also produce a BBC Proms In The Park and BBC Radio 2 Live In Hyde Park which both take place on the same weekend in September in London s Hyde Park In Ireland they organise the Longitude Festival and Electric Picnic In Norway they run the Hove Festival 7 In Germany they have expanded from running the Berlin Festival to running the first European Lollapalooza 6 They have previously been responsible for Big Chill festival which last ran in 2011 and were the operators of the Glastonbury Festival from 2002 until 2012 Former festivals EditBig Chill Festival 2010 2011 Eroica 2018 formerly V Festival South V Festivals 2017 T in the Park 2016 Former venues EditLondon Astoria London Forum Mean Fiddler Jazz Cafe The Garage The Borderline The Grand The Old Fiddler The Crossbar The Complex Media Point 101 Powers Bar Ion Bar Bartok The Z BarReferences Edit a b Thompson Jonathan 26 August 2001 Vince Power Mean fiddler who made the nation dance to his tune The Independent a b Bowers Simon 13 August 2007 The Mean Fiddler comes to Mama The Guardian Prain Susannah 1 February 2001 How I Got Here Fiddling all over the world Student Independent London Archived from the original on 3 December 2007 Mean Fiddler accepts takeover bid BBC News 8 April 2005 Mean Fiddler becomes Festival Republic Virtual Festivals 14 August 2007 Archived from the original on 24 December 2007 a b Festival Republic Review Hove Festival Norway Archived 2015 09 23 at the Wayback Machine Crack In The RoadExternal links Editofficial site Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Festival Republic amp oldid 1127368868, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
