Despite the inclement weather 333 event professionals from every sector arrived at Brighton’s seafront for the #WeMakeEvents global activation last night.
Stakeholders from some of Brighton’s major events including Billy Mauseth from Brighton Music Conference, Paul Kemp from Brighton Pride, Julian Caddy from The Fringe and Rory Bett from The Great Escape along with Madness guitarist Chris Foreman came together to fight for the industry.
From Rockwater to live music venue Concorde2, the seafront glowed red hot. The British Airways i360 Viewing Tower featured a dynamic lighting show produced by John Wallis at Reveries Events, with the column projecting rolling messages on the dire straits of the industry and the supply chain affected. House DJ’s Darius Syrossian and Alex Fitzgerald played their sets on the pod for later download through the BMC.
Lasers and intelligent lights lit up the sky and the Palace Pier, bouncing off the driving rain. At 8 o’clock the peaceful protest saw phones lit up red and a 3-minute silence attracting supportive honks from passing cars.
The Brighton event was spearheaded by a core group of event professionals: Jacqui Partridge and Ian Silcock, Ian Baird founder of EPIC and John Wallis. The two-hour production involved over 250 volunteers and around 50 companies who donated time and kit from all over the country for the show, including music producer Wax Worx who donated his unreleased track ‘Get up, GO MAD’ for the Brighton video.
Jacqui said “it’s incredible how people have come together and pulled out all the stops. Our mission is to educate the public on how serious this is for so many people and to Government. All we want to do is get back to work, but in that absence, we need help.”
photography by Darren Bandoo
