here’s a taster of what we’ve been up to

SolarAid puts best foot forward with Havaianas and Oceans Events at The Big Chill

For this year’s festival SolarAid partnered with Havaianas and Oceans Events, who together raised almost £8000. Festival-goers were invited to exchange old flip-flops, plus a £10 donation to SolarAid, for a brand new pair of self-designed Havaianas. With 100% of all donations going to SolarAid, total takings for the charity over the weekend rose to £12,758.

A case study of our weekend at The Big Chill with Havaianas to follow…

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Reading Festival boosts local shops and businesses

Reading Festival 2009 revellers helped shops and businesses rake in £16m in profits, a survey has revealed.

Event organisers Festival Republic announced on Thursday that last years bumper show generated £31m with party goers spending £16 in pubs, cafes and shops in the surrounding area.

The survey, compiled by Baker Associates and Reading University, revealed 90,000 ticket holders, staff and traders party goers spent a whopping £19,286,481 excluding entry costs - an average of £209.19 per person.

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The hottest festivals…and the wettest!

The Big Chill could be set to be the hottest festival this summer, while Bestival might be the wettest.

According to a survey conducted for Viagogo, the Met Office have found that The Big Chill in Herefordshire has been the hottest festival over the last five years, with an average temperature of 23 degrees C.

Other events expected to fair well include London’s Lovebox and Wireless, with an average of 22 degrees C.

In terms of wettest, Bestival has seen the most rainfall over the last five years with an average of 36.8mm.

Meanwhile, those going to T in the Park and Latitude may also want to consider packing their wellies, with the events having encountered over 30mm of rain since 2005.

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Win tickets to The Big Chill with Havaianas and Office!

Kick back with Havaianas and enjoy the fun and games at The Big Chill Festival!

Brazilians know a thing or two about how to enjoy summer – it’s ‘Always Summer’ over there. And now iconic Brazilian flip flop brand Havaianas is offering you and your feet the chance to hang out VIP-style at The Big Chill Festival.

Office have a pair of exclusive weekend tickets to offer one lucky winner. You’ll get entry to the festival and on-site accommodation, plus the opportunity to spend an afternoon with Havaianas making your own pair of bespoke flip flips and enjoying the ‘Always Summer’ Havaianas area.

We will be working with Havaianas and designing the area at The Big Chill, more to follow. Click here to visit the Facebook page for more details. For the people who already have Big Chill tickets, see you at the Havaianas area!

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Crystal Castles and more added to Latitude Festival

Crystal Castles, Paul Heaton, and Joshua Radin are amongst the 20 acts that have been announced for the music stages across Latitude Festival which takes place at Henham Park Estate, Suffolk.

Crystal Castles have been announced for the Obelisk Arena, with Paul Heaton, Joshua Radin, and The Antlers added to the line-up on the The Word Arena.

Taking to the Sunrise Arena will be Losers, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Luna Belle, Arno Carstens, Lauren Pritchard, White Belt Yellow Tag, Holly Miranda, The Hundred In The Hands and Michael Kiwanuka.

Newly confirmed for the Lake Stage are The Supernovas, Cevanne, The Cads, and These Ghosts.

Whilst the latest DJs added to the bill once the bands finish on the Lake Stage are White Wedding DJs, The Vinyl Vendettas, and Moshi Moshi DJs.

Tickets for Latitude have sold out. Latitude is confirmed as taking place from Friday 16th to Sunday 18th July 2010, with the festival opening it’s gates on Thursday 15th July for some limited non-musical entertainment.

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Big Chill latest: Thom Yorke announced, Glade ticket swap

The Big Chill has announced that Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke will be taking to the Deer Park Stage on Friday night in what is his only UK festival appearance this year to date. Malian desert band Tinariwen will also be taking to the Deer Park Stage on Friday. Other joining the previously announced acts Massive Attack, M.I.A., Kruder & Dorfmeister, Kelis, Roots Manuva, Plan B on that stage are Metronomy, and Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions.

Across the other stages additional artists just announced include Natty performing on the Revellers Stage as part of the offering on Sunday, Maurice Fulton has been added to the Paradiso Club Tent line-up, and Fat 45, and Bristol Hi-Fi feat. Daddy G complete the new musical additions.

Any festival goers who purchased full price Glade Festival tickets via Ticketline for £135, can contact Ticketline requesting to swap their Glade ticket for an Adult Weekend Big Chill ticket. Glade ticket holders will be charged an additional transaction fee of £7 per ticket swapped, meaning that they will get a Big Chill ticket which would have cost them £155 + £7 booking fee for £135 + £7 booking fee instead, saving them £20.

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Oceans Events - Top 5 to see this summer

We have been scratching our heads all week thinking about our personal favourites for this summer’s festivals. Here are our five picks…

Nicola - Arcade Fire
“They play their own instruments, they’re talented - and listening to that amount of people play together is pretty awesome.”

Oxygen - 9th July
Leeds - 27th August
Reading - 28th August

Laura - Muse
“They are the best live band in the world and have never failed to amaze me on the five times I’ve seen them so far.”

T In The Park - 9th July
Oxygen - 10th July

Damien - Two Door Cinema Club
“I’m going to go for a relatively unknown band. This three-piece are going to make big waves in the coming years.”

Glastonbury - 26th June
Oxygen - 9th July
T In The Park - 11th July
Reading - 27th August
Leeds - 29th August

Rachael - Paul Weller
“His music takes me back to my uni days and I’m interested in hearing some of his more recent tracks.”

V Festival - 21st August (Hylands Park)
V Festival - 22nd August (Weston Park)

Reg - AC/DC
“This will be the last opportunity to see AC/DC live in concert in the UK if rumours are true.”

Download - 11th June

Here’s hoping our favourites live up to our high expectations!

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Glade Festival Cancelled

The UK’s premium electronic music festival has been cancelled for 2010, in what would have been the seventh year for the independent, anti-sponsorship event. Having grown from a small stage at Glastonbury, Glade has continued to represent the best in all forms of electronic music.

Below is the statement from the Glade team:

With great sadness we have been forced to cancel the Glade Festival 2010.

When we started back in 2004 we did so out of a love of electronic music, free spiritedness and alternative culture and in response to the vibrant free party scene in the UK. We wanted to have our own version of the kind of colourful, creative and non-corporate events that happen in many places across the planet… Looking back it is amazing that it happened.

As many Glade fans will know over the years we have fought hard to maintain the integrity of the event against steadily increasing restrictions imposed by local authority and police. The resulting compromises have led to increased costs, increased ticket prices and a throttling of the very essence of what we wanted to do. It led to us finally having to move from the lovely Wasing estate due to late night noise restrictions and the police’s demands for an ever-increasing security and police presence at the event.

At our new venue, Matterley Bowl, there has actually been some amazing support from the local council who’s officers recognize the professional and co-operative way we run the event and the contribution to the local area and the country’s cultural diversity. They have worked with us to ensure the Glade is a safe and enjoyable event and openly recognize that we have one of the best event management teams in the country to do this.

However this year the requirements imposed upon us for policing, security and stewarding have been greatly increased. To make matters worse the reluctance of the police to negotiate in advance and deliberately delay any dialogue with us has resulted in our being unable to tie down a final costing for the event. This, along with unexpected legal fees associated with a last minute license review, has radically increased the cost of the festival.

We are an independent, sponsorship free event. The ethos of the Glade is to provide a place where people can safely come and express themselves freely and peacefully, dance and be in the countryside with the music they love without a heavy urban police and security presence. We strive to put on the most diverse and interesting festival we can by spending a large part of the budget on the ambience of the event and by having multiple stages with music from a myriad of both established and up and coming artists, musicians and djs from the many genres of the thriving underground electronic music scene.

Faced with what is already an expensive event to put on and with these unexpected forced increases in security and police costs as well as a level of advanced ticket sales that is below our expectations we have no choice but to do the responsible thing and cancel the event.

We have explored every way we can to keep the event going and, unfortunately, have been unable to find a solution. We have been unable to secure sufficient financial backing and scaling back the event, to a level where we can be confident we could pay all our bills, would mean losing smaller venues and the quirkiness that make up the heart and soul of the festival.

We’d like to send our thanks and love to all musicians, artists, crew and fans that have made the Glade what it was. We appreciate all the support and love over the years. It has been a brilliant trip and there’s been some beautiful moments in time but for now we can’t go on. We hope that this is not the end of the story and we will continue to strive to create a genuine grass roots, community based, control free, true spirited dance festival in the UK.

To all those who have bought tickets to this years event, please go to the point of purchase to claim back a refund.

If you have bought your tickets from Ticketline, either directly or by buying tickets on Glade’s website, please contact Ticketline’s customer services by email at customerservices@ticketline.co.uk or by phone on 0844 888 4409 who will refund you for the face value of your the ticket. Booking fees will be retained as an admin fee.

We are in talks with other festivals that we feel you will be interested in as Glade festival goers about the possibility of swapping your ticket for another festival at a discounted rate. We will be in touch as soon as possible, so please wait until then before applying for your refund.

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Rolf Harris to open Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury

Cultural icon Rolf Harris will open the biggest stage at Glastonbury festival next month.

Rolf, who turned 80 this year, will perform at the festival for the sixth time at the Pyramid Stage on Friday, June 25.

“I’m completely knocked out,” Rolf told the Maidenhead Advertiser.

“This will be my sixth time at fantastic Glastonbury. It’s my 80th birthday year and it just couldn’t get better.”

Revellers can expect to see the Perth personality, whose hits include Two Little Boys and Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport, on stage with a wobble board and didgeridoo.

His performance slot was announced by festival organisers today.

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Glastonbury Festival announces new stage

Sandi Thom heads up a slew of acts confirmed for Glastonbury Festival’s latest stage addition, Bourbon Street Jazz n Blues.

The new arena will also feature performances from Oli Brown Band, Martin Harley Band, Aynsley Lister Band, Ben Martin Quartet, Jacqui Wicks and Carmen Ghia and The Hotrods.

Nicola Farnon, Djangonauts, Kubla Khan, Ryan Taylor, The Wagon Train, The Dizzy Club, Top Shelf Jazz, Bex Marshall and Leon O’Doherty will also be performing over the weekend.

U2, Muse and Stevie Wonder will headline the 40th anniversary of the festival with Pet Shop Boys, Dizzee Rascal, Faithless, Ray Davies, Orbital and many more set to perform as well.

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Latitude Festival more popular than ever…

Organisers of Latitude Festival have announced that tickets for this summer’s event have sold out.

It is the fourth year running that the festival, held on the Henham estate, has sold out, with organisers Festival Republic announcing this lunchtime that there were no weekend or individual day tickets left.

The festival, held from July 15-18, has expanded to accommodate 35,000 people this year, but demand for tickets has been high with music headliners including Florence + The Machine, Belle and Sebastian and Vampire Weekend.

For more information on the festival’s line-up visit http://www.latitudefestival.co.uk

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L.E.D. Festival reveals more acts

Drum n bass sensations Shy FX and Sub Focus are among the newest acts confirmed for the inaugural L.E.D. Festival.

Rapper Professor Green, Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77 and Boy Better Know have also been added to the line-up with DJ Zinc inked in for proceedings as well. David Guetta and Leftfield are due to headline the new event with support from Friendly Fires, Soulwax, Goldfrapp and a live show from Calvin Harris.

Walls Ice Cream will also be present serving up your favourite ice cream products…lets hope the sun is shining!

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Wembley Arena to undergo name change

Wembley Arena is to be known as ‘Wembley Arena: A Barclaycard Unwind Venue’ for the next five years, in a naming deal promoting the credit card brand’s customer benefits programme.

Barclaycard will offer its 10.4 million UK customers preferential access to tickets, and will also use the venue to showcase its contactless payment technology.

Gary Twelvetree, Barclaycard’s global brand director, said: “We have resisted the temptation to create another corporate rock venue.” He pointed out that Wembley Arena retains its name.

The 12,500-seat venue has recently undergone a £36m redevelopment programme, and is operated by music promoter Live Nation.

Barclaycard’s recent focus on music and entertainment has also brought it to sponsor the Mercury Prize and the Wireless Festival.

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Reading…Leeds…Overseas?

Reading and Leeds Festivals may expand to a third site in 2011—with organisers hinting the new bash could be overseas.

Speaking to the Daily Star on April 24, Melvin Benn, of promoters Festival Republic, said he was considering taking the three-day event to foreign shores - but not necessarily warmer climes.

“It needs to be somewhere appropriate and exotic wouldn’t be appropriate.” said Melvin.

With the addition of a third site, Reading and Leeds could become one of the world’s biggest music events. Festival Republic already runs a host of festivals across the UK and Europe, including Latitude, the Big Chill, Ireland’s Electric Picnic and Hove Festival in Norway.

 

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‘Minute of Mayhem’ to mark punk king’s funeral

The funeral of Malcolm McLaren takes place in North London today (April 22nd). McLaren, who managed the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls, is due to be laid to rest this afternoon.

At midday, music fans around the UK are encouraged to play loud music for one minute in memory of the architect of punk.

Remember to turn up your stereo at noon and let it rip for 60 seconds in memory of Malcolm!

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Reading and Leeds ticket scam

Festival Republic, the company behind Reading and Leeds issued a statement yesterday confirming the closing down of two bogus Facebook sites selling tickets to both festivals.

They have urged fans not to buy tickets from third parties and only purchase from recognised distributors.

For more information visit their website or call the information line - 0207 009 3001.

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More acts announced for Latitude Festival

Pop band The Feeling are among the latest raft of acts to be confirmed for this summer’s Latitude Festival.

The Sussex-based band, whose top ten hits Fill My Little World Right Up and Never Be Lonely have secured two successful studio albums to date, will join a line-up that includes Brit Award winners Florence and the Machine and indie rockers Vampire Weekend.

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Reading & Leeds Festival Line-up Announced!

Check out the line-up for Reading & Leeds festivals at

http://www.readingfestival.com/lineup/  http://www.leedsfestival.com/lineup/

We’re already excited!

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Ben & Jerry’s at Glastonbury

Come and check out Ben & Jerry’s at Glastonbury this summer. They will be serving delicious ice creams to the masses - let’s just hope the sun is shining and it’s not the usual Glasto mud bath!

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Hollis Sponsorship Award 2010

Oceans Events have been nominated for a Hollis Sponsorship Award!

The Gaymers Cider Garden, the Brand Experience activation we designed and managed for two years, is shortlisted in the First Time Sponsor Award. We have taken the Brand Experience to several major festivals in 2008 and 2009, as well as securing stage sponsorship deals and venue hosting opportunities at events such as Lovebox and The Great Escape and several exclusive pouring deals at events and venues, and this has been a massive success story for the brand.

We have managed every aspect of the Gaymers Cider Garden, from initial concepts and designs to negotiating with festival promoters and building and staffing the Brand Experience. We worked to meet all of Gaymers’ objectives, including building a credible brand personality and music association for Gaymers Original and Pear variants and connecting with the core audience of 18-24 year olds who are passionate about music.

Thanks to our hard work, in 2008-2009 Gaymers reached over 2 million consumers and sold over 1 million drinks at festivals and outdoor events.

The Hollis Sponsorship Awards take place on Monday 9th March and recognise achievement in all areas of the sponsorship industry.

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Where We’ve Been

Oceans Events have worked tirelessly to establish fantastic relationships with world-renowned promoters and festival owners in order to offer our clients the best possible deals and access to the biggest festivals and concerts in the UK. Check out the clients page to see who we’ve worked with.

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News

We will be regularly updating the site with our news items. This page is where you can keep up to date with everything going on at Oceans Events.

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