Skiddle builds anticipation for Freedom Day

Event guide and ticketing outlet, Skiddle, has launched a new celebratory campaign ahead of ‘Freedom Day’, which will see all lockdown restrictions lifted in the UK.

Freedom Day – set to go ahead on Monday 19th July – allows live events, festivals and club nights to take place in a physical setting without any COVID-19 restrictions, such as social distancing or compulsory mask-wearing, for the first time in the UK since March 2020.

To celebrate the long awaited day in the events industry, Skiddle has released its new campaign video, showcasing all the key moments & emotions people have missed as a result of the pandemic. The anticipation, the crowds, the burger queues, and most importantly the emotion of coming together in that special moment. The video includes still images of the events that have been so sorely missed this year, and people celebrating special moments together, with photography provided by Robin Hill, Jen Amelia Veitch and Sebastian Matthes.

The video, created in-house at Skiddle, features a poetic voiceover from Thom Rylance, vocalist and guitarist from Northern band, the Lottery Winners. The spoken word piece from Thom evokes emotion with viewers, describing in detail the excitement of live events and the life-long memories they create, and describing each event experience as ‘More Than A Ticket’.

The campaign, set to run for three weeks from 12th July, will be visible across digital and OOH channels, including social media and billboards across the UK.

Earlier this year, Skiddle reported that it had seen incredible demand for live events ahead of lockdown restrictions lifting. Festival ticket sales on the site increased by 3,999% in March 2021 compared to sales in the same period in the previous year.

Richard Dyer, Co-founder of Skiddle said: “Words simply cannot describe how much excitement there is ahead of Freedom Day. Having worked in the events industry for over 20 years, demand has never been higher. For many, it’s been a long time coming and we wanted to mark the occasion with a true celebration of not just events themselves, but everything that comes along with it – the sticky floors, the laughter, being in a crowded field, dancing with mates and so much more.

“Thom is an artist who we’ve supported for a while and we couldn’t be happier with his spoken word piece for this video. He’s captured that indescribable feeling of being at a live event so perfectly, and we want to thank him for working with us on this campaign – his words truly brought our vision to life.”

Whilst the campaign has been created to celebrate the positivity of live events taking place once again, Skiddle is also using its platform to raise awareness of what has been a turbulent 15 months for the industry.

Richard continued: “We want this campaign to be a celebration of live events, but we also want to highlight the uncertainty, doubt and struggles the industry has faced as a result of the pandemic. We’ve seen first-hand how much resilience it takes, with many of our peers having had to adapt to an entire new way of working to continue to carry out the work they do – it hasn’t been a pleasant journey for anyone, particularly for artists, talent and those just starting out in the industry.

“Over the course of the last year, we’ve worked closely with NTIA and We Are Viable to ensure our promoters have the resources to support themselves, particularly when it comes to insurance. We’ve hosted the Skiddle Summit, a free virtual event which allowed young people in the industry to gain valuable insight from seasoned professionals. We’ve also appeared on panels with Music Support, and hosted a panel at BMC around inclusivity in nightlife. We even launched The Going Out Podcast which is helping fans get closer to the artists they love in the absence of events.

“This campaign is dedicated to everyone who has struggled, physically and mentally, and came through the other side. It’s a well-deserved celebration and our way of giving back and saying, ‘well done for getting through it, now it’s time to party!’.”