The 2016 outing of the Showman’s Show saw the successful addition of Campfire Sessions for the first time in the event’s 30-year history. Feedback from both speakers and attendees has been extremely positive. With nine sessions in total covering a wide range of topics, from the impact of Brexit, tackling crime at festivals, Health & Safety and sustainable power to a beginner’s guide to starting a festival, driving ticket sales, improving recycling rates and social media tips there was something for anyone involved in the events industry to tap into.

Kicking the sessions off was a presentation from the Association of Festival Organisers’ general secretary, Steve Heap with a beginner’s guide to starting a festival. Commenting after his session, Steve said: “It was a pleasure to present a beginner’s guide to festival management at the 2016 Showman’s Show.  An extremely well organised event in a perfect venue and a good crowd of around thirty people who seemed to enjoy it and were happy to get involved in the session.”

Nick Morgan, CEO for The Fair delivered an interesting and insightful presentation into Health & Safety at outdoor events that looked at CDM – one year on, along with an overview of event safety methodology and onsite management. Commenting after his session he said: “It was a great to speak at the show and I really enjoyed the whole event. I think the format worked really well, the audience were really engaged and I enjoyed it.”

Also a highlight in the two day programme was a session entitled ‘Smart Power for Outdoor Events chaired by Graham Brown, managing director of Plaster Creative Communications who commented: “This panel reflected the progression in the growing acceptance of ‘responsible’ organisers that they are willing to try to make significant reductions in their energy consumption and that suppliers are responding to those requests with some realistically achievable solutions. It feels like the sustainable agenda is moving from the pioneering few into the mainstream, which is very encouraging.”

Johnny Lance, show organiser said: “As this was the first time we’d ever organised a full programme of sessions at the Showman’s Show we were naturally cautious about how they might be received. However, it is safe to say we were over the moon with how they turned out. They were well attended and the cosy informality of the set up offered the opportunity for the visitors and speakers to engage with each other which is exactly what we set out to achieve. The initial feedback from our visitors has been very positive, with a call for more sessions in this format which we are very pleased about. We are already thinking ahead to next year and would like to extend a huge thank you to all the speakers who gave up their time to get involved.”