Well-known pop band The Hoosiers and Weston-super-Mare singer Harrisen Larner-Main performed at a street party in Milton on Saturday.
The socially distanced festival in Chesham Road North was organised by Aaron Sayers, a tour manager and sound engineer, who is determined to bring live music back in a safe way during the pandemic.
Covid-19 has had a huge effect on the music industry with mass cancellations of festivals and gigs, and with the viability of future live events in question, neighbours in the street rallied together to organise the street party.
Aaron, who normally be working at numerous festivals around the world over the summer, said: “It’s been a devastating year for the business, and the #WeMakeEvents campaign has been really successful in showcasing the particular and sustained difficulties we are all facing in the live events community.
“The very few socially distanced events that have managed to go ahead this year have only been viable due to vast corporate sponsorship and working with audience numbers between six to 20 per cent of usual capacity is just not a practical long-term solution.
“The beauty of what we have managed to achieve as a street and community is made possible by everyone predominantly staying in their own front gardens and within household bubbles.
“This helps conform with social distancing guidelines without the need for any external infrastructure.”
Aaron – who owns Track21 Touring Ltd and has worked with acts such as Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, Ed O’Brien and All Saints – is raising awareness of the #WeMakeEvents campaign, which is calling for more support for professionals in the live events industry who face losing their livelihoods.
It is the third successful street party the neighbours have put on during the pandemic, although this was on a much grander scale with one garden hosting a stage for the music acts.
Aaron hopes the new model will catch on to enable more live music events to take place.
He said: “The community spirit has been really fantastic to witness, and everyone has got involved in helping to set up and fund the event.
“We’ve also been really fortunate in securing some sponsorship from local businesses – Unity Blinds, Bright* Production Services and Honeywell Construction – which has allowed us to make this our third event the biggest and best yet.”
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