Independent Venue Week will go digital this year, taking place online between October 24 to October 30. Originally slated to occur in July, Independent Venue Week will be raising funds to benefit the NIVA Emergency Relief Fund, helping to provide much-needed assistance to venues and promoters.
“While Independent Venue Week has always been a celebration of the autonomy of independently owned stages, COVID-19 has necessitated we re-frame the event. In this modified, online version we will be able to jointly showcase what makes these rooms so special, while raising funds that will go to venues and promoters staving off permanent closure,” says Rev. Moose, Managing Partner at Marauder, the firm that runs Independent Venue Week in the US, and concurrently the Executive Director of NIVA (National Independent Venue Association).
On March 12, 2020, right before venues were mandated closed across the country, Independent Venue Week invited independent venues and promoters from across the United States to discuss the global crisis. These Independent Venue Week “Town Halls” quickly led to the creation of NIVA, whose advocacy and fundraising efforts have inspired proposed federal legislation in the form of the Save Our Stages Act.
Fundraising will be at the core of this year’s event with all money raised going into the NIVA Emergency Relief Fund, a collaboration between patrons, businesses, organizations, and funders in support of a 2,800+ membership consortium of independent venues and promoters across the nation.
“This year, Independent Venue Week is needed now more than ever to keep that spotlight shining and support the venues, promoters, crews, artists, agents and the whole ecosystem that works together to ensure live music can be around for years to come,” says Sybil Bell, founder of Independent Venue Week.
Eventbrite returns as a founding partner, and is joined by live-streaming technology company Big Room and Ascend Insurance Brokerage as the first partners announced for the 2020 event.
Details about programming, participants, and more are yet to be announced.
