Member Article

Festival Republic boss visits Leeds Met to discuss environmental sustainability

Leeds Festival boss, Melvin Benn, is set to deliver a public guest lecture at Leeds Metropolitan University on Wednesday 12 February.

In his lecture, which takes place at the Rose Bowl from 5.30-7pm, Melvin will discuss the economics of environmental practice in the music and creative industries, exploring the idea of sustainability and using examples from his own festivals as well as the wider creative community.

Melvin Benn is a music promoter and Chief Executive of Festival Republic, the company behind the Reading, Leeds and Latitude Festivals.

He is an advocate of taking early action on environmental sustainability in the creative industries and has vast experience of staging large-scale entertainment events not only in the UK but also in Norway, Germany and Ireland.

Melvin also held the licence and operational control of Glastonbury Festival from 2002 until 2012 when he parted ways to concentrate on Festival Republic’s growing portfolio of international events.

He created ‘The Festival Office Ltd’ in 1989 to develop and produce festivals for the Mean Fiddler Music Group. In the same year, the Mean Fiddler took over the Reading Festival. Melvin joined the Wembley Stadium Board in July 2008 and was appointed Chairman in May 2011.

Deborah Green, Director of Marketing at Leeds Metropolitan, commented: “I am delighted to welcome Melvin Benn back onto our campus.

“Our University has a long-standing employability partnership with Festival Republic who, since 2007, have provided our students with hundreds of unique work experience opportunities in a niche, high-demand industry.

“This relationship was formally recognised in 2011 when Melvin accepted an honorary doctorate.

“Melvin is passionate about investing in young people and their futures. He believes that sustainable business practices are one of the ways companies today can build a better future for tomorrow’s youth.

“I am sure Tuesday’s lecture will provide a fascinating insight into a topical and at times a controversial subject.”

The partnership between Leeds Metropolitan University and Festival Republic sees around 500 students from Leeds Met every year work at Hove, Latitude and Leeds Festivals on roles such as Helpful Arena Team Members and Managers, Interns in sound, lighting, production, media relations, film, photography, events management and artist liaison.

Leeds Met students also run the BBC Introducing Stage at Leeds Festival and the Lake Stage at Latitude Festival.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .