With the COVID19 pandemic taking hold across the globe, Folk and Tumble took time out to speak to the musicians and promoters who though no fault of their own have found themselves out of work and facing uncertain futures. First up was Sean Kelly, Director of Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival in Belfast.
FT: You were on the cusp of launching the 21st Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival when COVID19 struck. When did you realise that holding the festival wasn’t an option?
SK: About two weeks prior to cancelling things started to look ominous. Public anxiety was growing on social media and we were watching news reports from Northern Italy with a growing sense of unease.
Word was coming through of festivals and tours being cancelled in Europe and America and anger was growing at the inactivity of the governments here and in London. On the weekend before St Patrick’s Day, we held an Emergency Board Meeting and the consensus was to cancel. We were led by public safety concerns but at the same time, a couple of key artists were indicating they might cancel which would have knocked the heart out of the festival anyway.
FT: Did you think the information coming via government was satisfactory for someone in your position?
SK: No, not at all. We were forced to make the decision to cancel ourselves because at that point we had received little official guidance and Boris Johnson had just held a press briefing in which he “advised” people not to socialise but didn’t actually order the closure of pubs and clubs. Had he done so at that point, our life would have been made easier because it looked like we were cancelling unilaterally and that created a difficult situation with some agents.
FT: After all the hard work involved in booking artists and arranging venues, how does that sudden loss affect you financially and mentally?
SK: Psychologically, it still feels a bit unreal. We’ve been building towards this point for nearly eight months and within a few days, we had to adjust to the new reality that, for the first time in 20 years, we wouldn’t be delivering a May festival. Gradually that reality is sinking in and it’s just a case of making the best of a bad situation. Can we reschedule some shows or move them into Out to Lunch or next year’s CQAF? How can we help the freelance staff we employ every year? Can we use our social media platforms to give a platform to artists?
The full financial fallout won’t be known for some weeks. We’re really hoping that some help will be forthcoming for freelance workers especially. We don’t know yet to what extent our core funders, the Arts Council and City Council, will support the organisation in the absence of a festival this year – if they will at all.
Thankfully all the agents we work with have been very reasonable in terms of deposits and all have been returned or the shows have been rescheduled. That was one of the things surprised me most but I guess they realise that if a huge number of small festivals go down, there won’t be much of an industry left when normality returns.
We managed to build some modest reserves over the years so the organisation should hopefully be able to ride this out for a few months. It’s just so difficult to get any sense of what the arts and entertainment landscape will look like in six months or a year. Even when the Coronavirus threat subsides – which is hopefully soon – how long will it take for public confidence to return to socialise freely?
Sean Kelly (CQAF Festival Director) © Bernie McAllister.
FT: Will your insurance cover the cancellation?
SK: No, most festival insurance won’t cover communicable disease unless you have specifically asked for it.
FT: The festival generated an income within the wider economy. How will the venues, staff, and hotels you use make up that shortfall?
SK: Well, as we’ve seen, the entire tourism and hospitality industry is in freefall at the minute. Even a small festival like ours contributes in excess of £2 million to the local economy and that’s all wiped out. We can only hope that employers who have the means to, look after their staff in the meantime and there are venues and bars ready to reopen when the time comes.
FT: As someone who is employed in the arts sector, are you able to avail of any of the recently announced government support measures?
SK: Listening to Rishi Sunak’s announcement on Friday, it suggests there could be support for anyone on PAYE but that is just one worker in our organisation. We would usually have 3-4 people on shorter-term contracts who won’t be eligible.
FT: What can people do to ensure the survival of CQAF at this difficult time?
SK: We resisted the urge to do a big fundraising call when we announced the cancellation. The wider situation is just too grave and we felt people had other things to worry about. When the dust settles, we will think about how we can galvanise support for the festival; either through donations or fundraising gigs or whatever. For now, we are just refunding all ticket holders, assessing the full financial impact and staying at home and practising social distancing.
FT: At this time are you still hopeful that you’ll be celebrating 21 years of the festival in 2021?
SK: I’d love to think so. I think we cater to audiences that other festivals maybe don’t and if we come through this relatively unscathed, the hope is there will be an appetite for people to congregate together again to listen to great music and watch great comedy and theatre. It’s a basic human need that no amount of Netflix can meet and we want to be able to meet that need for a few more years yet.
FT: Thanks for your time. Stay safe and I hope to see you in happier times.
SK: Thanks. You too Gerry.