Music Venue Trust announces full programme for tenth anniversary edition of Venues Day

20 September 2024 - Press release

Steve Lamacq to Give Keynote Address

Remaining Tickets on Sale Now

 

Music Venue Trust (MVT) has announced that a limited number of remaining tickets for its 10th annual Venues Day event, which will take place at Woolwich Works, London on Tuesday 8th October, are now on general sale. Hundreds of delegates from across the UK’s grassroots music venue (GMV) sector, representing venues throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, have already booked their places at the event.

The 10th Anniversary edition of Venues Day will celebrate a decade of the grassroots music venue movement and will be the largest gathering of people who run GMVs in the world. The event will offer an opportunity to reflect on progress made in the UK and the challenges still being faced by the sector.

MVT, which represents over 800 UK grassroots music venues (GMVs), has held this one day event for the sector since 2014, with delegates representing venues, promoters, agents, artists, government departments, funding bodies and a wide range of ancillary service providers.

This year’s Venues Day theme will centre around the importance of the artists and the role GMVs play in inspiring, nurturing and connecting them with audiences while offering them an opportunity to experiment and develop new ideas. As ever, Venues Day will also offer networking opportunities, the chance to share experiences and information and a platform to discuss important issues.

The event represents the single biggest opportunity to engage directly and in person with the GMV sector as it is designed specifically for members of the Music Venues Alliance, providing attendees with workshops, discussions, presentations and networking that offer practical support to the people who run these vital venues and connect them with services that can help them.

A series of panels exploring the common goals of artists and venues has now been confirmed with speakers including Sam Duckworth (Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly), Lily Meff (The Meffs), Kwame Kwaten (Ferocious Talent), Stina Tweeddale (Honeyblood), Nathan Clark (Brudenell Social Club), Rhoda Dakar, Tom Gray (The Ivors) and Jane Beese among others.

Long-time MVT patron and Chairman of LIVE Steve Lamacq has also been confIrmed to deliver this year’s keynote welcome address. A staunch supporter of the GMV sector for decades Steve has played an integral hosting role at Venues Day in previous years.

Longtime supporters of MVT and headline sponsors Ticketmaster, Fred Perry and Jack Daniels have also allowed Venues Day 2024 to offer subsidised delegate passes and travel bursaries to ensure that venue representatives from across the UK can attend

Thanks also to the generosity of Ticketmaster Venues Day 2024 will end with a fully catered afterparty for delegates and special guests who have been instrumental in MVT's work over the past 10 years.

Bev Whitrick, Chief Operating Officer at Music Venue Trust said, “The landscape for GMVs in 2024 is still challenging. 10 years of work has not solved everything, but this annual opportunity to bring our community together to update on progress, offer support, forge new connections and celebrate the wins is needed now more than ever. Venues Day 2024 is THE event for the GMV sector and everyone who has a stake in it.”

Tickets for Venues Day 2024, priced £168, can now be booked here