Bingley Music Live is a relaxed, family-friendly outdoor festival which, as it takes place in early September, is a much-loved season finale for AP Security’s massive annual festival season workload.
With a population of around 20,000, the market town of Bingley may seem an unusual location for a festival that is rapidly growing in stature.
However, being located on the fringes of West Yorkshire’s urban heart, which takes in Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield, Halifax, Wakefield and a number of smaller conurbations, there is a ready audience for this festival with a difference.
20 years of history
Taking place in the town’s Myrtle Park, there has been an annual live music event on the site for 20 years.
It morphed into its present form in 2007 and, with the event entirely organised and managed by Bradford Council, crowd safety and stewarding was put out to tender. AP Security won the contract and the company is now an integral part of the festival.
“We originally staged the event as a free festival, as a way of encouraging more people to use the parks in the local boroughs,” says Andrew Wood, Bradford Council events manager, who organises Bingley Music Live.
“It was also a way of saying thank you to the ratepayers, of giving them something back.
“As the festival has evolved, we now charge GB pound 30 for a Saturday and Sunday pass, or GB pound 20 for either day, but we believe it offers very good value for money. And we still stage the Friday evening’s performances for free, going out of our way to ensure that we have credible bands. We had about 12,000 in on the Friday night this year.”
High profile names
This year’s event saw four acts take to the stage on Friday, headlined by legendary punk-pop pioneers Buzzcocks, with the Saturday and Sunday each featuring a full day’s entertainment of nine bands, including high profile names like PiL, The Enemy, James, Reef and Seasick Steve.
AP’s presence at the event is headed by Leeds office manager Emma Tattersall, and overseen by company general manager Andrew Stevens, who clearly enjoys his time in Bingley.
“If anybody wanted to get into event management of a medium-sized event, I would hold this up as the model,” he says. “Andrew [Wood] is great to work with because he’s available throughout the year and his plans are immaculate.
“But, even better than that, what appears on site is always identical to what it says in the plans, which isn’t always the case with other events.
“Andrew puts incredible passion into it, has studied for the relevant qualifications and makes our job so easy because the event is so well set up.
“There’s nothing big or flash about it – it’s just one stage – but at night with the trees, fireworks and the river, the whole thing is just beautiful. I’m a massive fan of this event, it’s really putting Bingley on the map and is, as a festival, really making a name for itself.”
Seamless working relationship
A bonus for AP of winning the council tender is that the company works at all the events that Andrew Wood and his team organise. With several years of working together, the relationship between AP and the council’s team is seamless.
“I’m delighted with AP’s service,” says Wood. “I can pick up the phone to Andrew, Simon [Miller, AP northern regional manager] and Emma if there’s something that I’m unsure of and get their thoughts or recommendations.
“We have a lot of similar understandings of the event industry and it is a pleasure to be able to work with them.”
