LONG DIVISION SHARES UPDATE ON 2021 EVENT & PLANS
FESTIVAL MOVES TO LATE SEPTEMBER & ANNOUNCES NEW PROJECTS
Long Division Festival have announced the Wakefield based event will move from early June to the weekend of September 25th. The festival team have made the decision to move to early Autumn to give them the best chance as possible of holding the festival in a safe manner.More information on the line up for 2021 will follow and the festival will work to bring across as many artists from the previously announced lineup as possible. Those who have held their ticket across from 2020 will still be able to retain their ticket for this new date.
While the timeline for the return of live events remains unclear, the Long Division team have committed to working with other partners towards ensuring live music returns to Wakefield as soon as and in as healthy a state as possible. Upcoming projects include the creation of a City PA for Wakefield and securing additional funding to form the Wakefield Live Music Consortium (alongside local promoters Bodys, Philophobia Music and Wakefield Jazz) which will support the curation of 48 gigs over a 12 month period. All of this will ensure that Wakefield’s independent and live music scene will continue to go from strength to strength.
In addition, Long Division are working on creating a dedicated rehearsal space and recording studio for Wakefield city centre in response to the permanent closure of similar venues during the pandemic. Alongside all of this, the innovative education programme #YoungTeam will be working with up to 100 young people throughout the year, offering them qualifications whilst supporting them in forming new bands and organising events while also providing families with educational content to support those home-schooling.
First taking place in June 2011, Long Division are keen to avoid letting their 10th birthday pass unnoticed and are looking at the possibility of hosting a smaller one-off event in early June if restrictions allow.
While planning will resume for September, the Long Division team are committed that the festival will only go ahead if it is totally safe to do so; the wellbeing of festival guests, staff and performing artists are paramount and more updates including safety measures and planning will be issued throughout the next few months.
Dean Freeman, Founder / Director, Long Division:
“Over the last ten years our priorities have shifted somewhat; we’re no longer ‘just’ a festival but an organisation dedicated to supporting and celebrating the musical grassroots. We now see Long Division Festival as a celebration of this, our chance to just share our enjoyment of music, community and Wakefield. It doesn’t feel like an event in June would be a celebration; it’d be a compromise. We feel our time can be better spent working with others building our city and industry back up – and then invite everyone over to Wakefield for a great time in September. I think the public itch to see live music has transformed over the last few months; we still want it desperately but we all now appreciate much more that it has to come back properly, and safely. That’s what we want, and that’s what makes us excited when we look ahead through the difficult months ahead”
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