The UK festival industry is getting back on its feet after a year of being struck by the pandemic. With that, gender equality has taken a hit. “Friday marked a mini-boom for festival bill announcements, all heavily weighted towards male performers. Headlined by Liam Gallagher, Snow Patrol, David Guetta and Duran Duran, Isle of Wight offered a 73% male lineup,” The Guardian reported.
Reports also suggested that even Scotland's TRNSMT festival this year is all-male acts and makes up 61% of performers. At Kendal Calling, the line up featured 79% men.
“It’s totally unacceptable that after a year of turmoil, women and minorities are being excluded from this return to live,” Maxie Gedge, UK project manager of Keychange, told Guardian. PRS Foundation has pledged to commit to lineups featuring 50% women and gender minorities by 2022. The domination of males in the music industry coincided with other festival announcements. The Dance festival Creamfields features a 91% male lineup.
