COVID passes and masks for theatres, cinemas in England

Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday (Wednesday) announced that England will move to Plan B in a bid to tackle the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. The update means the introduction of the NHS COVID Pass for entry into nightclubs and large events, which will begin Wednesday 15 December. In a statement, the UK …

Capacity limits for Ireland’s indoor events, but outdoor venues unaffected by updates

The Irish Government has updated the rules surrounding live events and venues due to the new wave of the Omicron variant. Indoor live events are limited to a capacity of 50% of the venue’s total capacity. Attendees must also be fully seated at indoor events and must also wear a face mask, unless consuming food …

AWS outage affects Ticketmaster and Adele pre-sale

An outage for Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Tuesday resulted in issues for Ticketmaster, and also a delay in the pre-sale for artist Adele’s (pictured) new Las Vegas residency. Music and entertainment fans were unable to purchase concert tickets from the ticketing platform as it uses AWS, a global on-demand cloud computing platform and application …

Catholic protestors force cancellation of church-based live performances

Catholic protestors have forced Swedish musician Anna Von Hausswolff to cancel two shows in Nantes and Paris, as the protests prompted security concerns. The protestors claimed that Hausswolff’s music, which heavily features the pipe organ, is ‘satanist’ despite the show at Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Port church being organised in partnership with the Nantes diocese. According to a tweet …

New York Mets’ Citi Field utilises Facial Authentication

Major League Baseball’s New York Mets and software company Wicket have partnered to bring Facial Authentication to Citi Field, the team’s home stadium. The deployment will begin facial access control for staff and vendors. A successful pilot was run during the second half of the 2021 season, and the Mets will now introduce more facial …

Events face restrictions, some nightclubs to close in Germany

Germany has banned unvaccinated attendees from live events as the country attempts to curb the latest wave of coronavirus. Nightclubs have also been ordered to close in areas where 350 cases per 100,000 people have been recorded in the past week. As the Omicron variant of COVID-19 poses a threat across Europe, Germany has introduced …

NTIA reacts to potential vaccine passports in England

Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), has cautioned against the widespread introduction of COVID-19 vaccine passports in England. Ministers are expected to sign off on new COVID-19 rules to introduce vaccine certification in England, according to reports from the Guardian. The so-called ‘Plan B’ has been discussed frequently amid rising …

People on the move: AXS Europe, Arsenal and more…

We round up the latest movements from the ticketing sector and associated industries… Ticketing company AXS Europe has announced that Jonathan Lack has been appointed to the position of head of account management. Lack has 15 years of experience within the ticketing industry, including roles at The O2 in London, Ticketmaster UK and Schottenstein Center in Columbus, …

Live Nation Entertainment closes acquisition of OCESA

Live Nation Entertainment has completed its acquisition of a 51% controlling interest in Latin American promoter OCESA Entretenimiento. The acquisition was originally announced in July 2019, but Live Nation pulled out in 2020 due to the uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Live Nation had agreed to acquire a 40% stake in OCESA from Grupo …