Sir Lenny Henry on UK festivals.

Festivals are open to anyone who wants to attend and buy tickets. As far as I am aware there is no discriminatory questions ie ethnicity when booking. Yes I think he is looking for a problem that isn’t there.

I agree with you. Tickets are available to anyone who can manage to get them. I understand they go very quickly. I’m fairly sure that the automated system does not discriminate on the side of any group of people.

Glastonbury has always been very white middle class, as are most other high profile festivals ( Reading for example )
It’s the music yes. Music festivals have traditionally been quite ‘hippy’ ‘Rock’ so it’s a question of taste.

Yes open to anyone..
But try and get Glastonbury tickets when they open up Good luck. X5 of us all tried last time not even a sniff .

The tickets are through a ballot.

I think he was making the point that a certain demographic were attracted to attending festivals, and that's all. I don't think he was suggesting discrimination.

There are many music events round the U.K. particularly London where the participants are mainly Afro-Caribbean due to the genre of music.

People go to a festival/gig if they are interested in the artistes appearing and you do not have to put your ethnicity on the booking/ballot application.

Just read my post, I didn’t intend it to seem so harsh, hope you get my drift.

The interesting point, surely, is why this is the case?

The argument 'open to all' often isn't helpful in determining whether there are structural or cultural issues at play, and, if so, the extent to which that is impeding access.

The same discussion, for example, has been playing out for some time in relation to access to the countryside. In theory, it's open to everyone. In practice, it's clear that it is not open equally to everyone, for a variety of socio-economic factors.

He’s also plugging his new TV series.

I am finding Lenny Henry increasingly tiresome.

It didn`t come across as harsh to me GrannyGravy13.
I am getting fed up with Lenny Henry and his comments about everything to do with black/white people.
We all choose where to go to be entertained.

Glastonbury has become middle aged, middle class people spending a few days trying to pretend they are still young. You need money to afford any festivals or concerts these days. Tickets to see David Bowie in the 1970s around about £3 Tickets to see Ed Sheeran at Wembley 2022 £300+
He should be asking what happened to music any one could afford?

Aren’t middle aged middle class people allowed to go to events too?

I didn’t realise until this week that Lenny Henry started his career on the Black & White Minstrel Show and had to black-up as it was called then.

How times have changed in my lifetime, mostly for the good.

Zonne I recommend people read Foot Notes - Black and White Thinking by Guy Kennaway and Hussein Sharif

When Guy Kennaway, 63, a white, middle class, overweight, English, Tory-voting writer met Hussein Sharif, 22, an African-born, inner city, Tory-hating Muslim, they assumed they had little in common. But newly related by marriage, they decided to go on a walk through Britain to get to know each other. Guy’s mission was to explain to Hussein how wonderful British life and culture was, and Hussein’s was to describe to Guy the realities of life as a young black Muslim in Britain in 2019.

At the outset, Hussein (from Tottenham) said Rambling was white people's sh** alongside thing like rockclimbing and skiing and keeping dangerous pets.

There's an article on PressReader titled Rambling About Racism with Clare Balding which tells a little bit about Kennaway's and Sharif's story.

Note, if you read the article, how unfriendly even hostile people are when they encounter a black man walking Offa's Dyke.

I din understand what he was trying to say.

Glastonbury has become middle aged, middle class people spending a few days trying to pretend they are still young

Why is enjoying live music to be confined to the young?

Glorianny

Glastonbury has become middle aged, middle class people spending a few days trying to pretend they are still young. You need money to afford any festivals or concerts these days. Tickets to see David Bowie in the 1970s around about £3 Tickets to see Ed Sheeran at Wembley 2022 £300+
He should be asking what happened to music any one could afford?

I have just looked on ticketmaster and Ed Sheehan tickets Wembley lowest price is £54.00.

£300 are top of the range box seats.

Ticket touts will sell tickets for whatever they think they will get but lots of artists and their management are cracking down in touts and preventing re-sales

Ticket prices for one concert cannot be compared to, for example, Glasonbury ticket prices which offer a range of acts over five days.

Callistemon21

Ticket prices for one concert cannot be compared to, for example, Glasonbury ticket prices which offer a range of acts over five days.

Totally agree,I was replying to Glorianny

The price of the tickets make it unavailable to a lot of lower wages earners
He is correct if you go to Glastonbury there are very few ethnic minority faces in the crowd It is a white middle class young to middle age persons festival
The price of food at festivals is pure extortion
Then again it could be the music that doesn’t attract

Would be an interesting thesis for a Uni student to undertake

I like Lenny Henry I think he’s a good bloke

GrannyGravy13

Callistemon21

Ticket prices for one concert cannot be compared to, for example, Glasonbury ticket prices which offer a range of acts over five days.

Totally agree,I was replying to Glorianny

Yes, I realised and comparing ordinary seats to box seats doesn't give a true picture.

The equivalent of £3 in 1970 is about £49 now.

There's nothing wrong with finding out why one group or another doesn't attend activities of any sort, and using the information to try to attract them. That's why so many venues (and other organisations) have Diversity questionnaires. I have no idea why black people might not go to festivals, but if the organisers don't know either, but then find out that their advertising or marketing isn't working, they can tweak it to ensure that all relevant groups are reached.

Just because someone comments on something like this doesn't mean that they are criticising; and deliberately trying to attract one under-represented group doesn't imply that another already represented one is 'not allowed' to attend.

(*easybee*, I am also finding LH increasingly tiresome. I get that he's grown up since TisWas, and wants to be taken seriously, but he's becoming another of those celebrities who thinks they are experts on everything.)