July 30, 2018: Lollapalooza to Have Heightened Security This Year, Tokyo Names Director for 2020 Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies, How U.K. Music Festivals Are Going Greener

1. LOLLAPALOOZA TO HAVE HEIGHTENED SECURITY THIS YEAR: People attending Chicago's Lollapalooza music festival this year can expect to see airport-style screenings, new bag restrictions, more fencing, and more police officers. The heightened security measures are in response to the mass shooting that occurred at a Las Vegas music festival last October. Chicago Tribune: "City officials hope their plans for the four-day, star-studded event—featuring Bruno Mars and the Weeknd as headliners—will ease the minds of any concertgoers following news that the Las Vegas attacker also booked rooms at a hotel along Michigan Avenue, across the street from last year's Lollapalooza. On Friday, Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson said there were no known threats to the festival and that some of the extra police officers assigned to the event would be earning overtime. ... Lollapalooza, which typically attracts 100,000 music fans each of its four days, will be one of the country’s largest urban festivals held since 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire from his 32nd-floor suite at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds more at the Route 91 Harvest festival on October 1. Days later, the Tribune reported Paddock had months earlier reserved two rooms at the Blackstone Hotel on Michigan Avenue with a clear view of Lollapalooza, but he never showed up during the August festival. Rich Guidice, first deputy of the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications, said in a Thursday interview with the Tribune that he didn’t want to speculate on Paddock’s possible Chicago plans, but his team took into consideration the Las Vegas shooting and other incidents around the world when devising security protocols." https://trib.in/2M2wBC2

2. TOKYO NAMES DIRECTOR FOR 2020 OLYMPIC OPENING AND CLOSING CEREMONIES: The organizing committee for the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo has named Mansai Nomura, a renowned actor in Japanese theater, the chief executive creative director of the opening and closing ceremonies. The announcement was made at a meeting on Monday, which also proposed introducing daylight saving time in Japan before the games. Reuters: "Following a Tokyo 2020 executive board meeting in Fukushima Prefecture, Nomura was named as the chief executive creative director overseeing all four ceremonies. Nomura is best known in Japan for his performances as an actor featuring in kyogen, a traditional form of comedic theater. The 52-year-old won the prize for the best actor at the prestigious Blue Ribbon Awards in 2001. The board meeting was held at the recently re-opened J-Village complex in Fukushima Prefecture. The facility, which previously played host to the Argentine soccer team during the 2002 World Cup, was used as a base for rescue teams working in the wake of the 2011 earthquake. The earthquake killed approximately 18,000 people and also severely damaged the Fukushima nuclear plant rendering much of the area near the J-Village a no-go zone. ... The Games torch relay will start in Miyagi Prefecture, also damaged by the earthquake, before passing through nearby Fukushima and Iwate Prefectures in a symbolic tour. During the meeting, Mori, a former Japan prime minister, also proposed to introduce daylight saving time in Japan before the Olympics. Japan currently does not switch its timezone during the summer months, when the sun rises very early bringing with it the heat and humidity, which was behind the recent record-breaking heatwave in the country. Mori believes switching to daylight saving time before the Olympics would reduce temperatures for morning events such as the marathon and he had spoken to Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the issue." https://reut.rs/2M1fIYC

3. HOW U.K. MUSIC FESTIVALS ARE GOING GREENER: Musical festivals in the United Kingdom produce more than 23,000 tons of waste each year, and only one third of that amount is recycled. In an effort to go greener, a group of high-profile events have committed to ditching all plastics. Sky News: "Paul Reed, chief executive of the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), said: 'Given the environmental footprint of the industry it was certainly time to take some collective affirmative action.' So this year, 61 independent music gatherings have signed a three year pledge to get 'Drastic on Plastic,' promising to rid their sites of single-use plastic by 2021. 'It's three years because we think that's a realistic timetable. We're not just talking about straws and bottles, once you start looking across a festival site, it's wristbands, cable ties, glitter, it's the pervasive nature of plastic. Festivals are on incredibly tight margins, it is a challenge to build a town in a field, but independent festivals have made a firm commitment to do this.' Even the big hitters are on board. At Reading and Leeds a cup-return scheme means that for every 10 cups or bottles returned, each festival goer can get £1. Glastonbury might be taking a break this year but when it's back it's promising to implement a site-wide ban on plastic bottles by 2019. Some 15,000 people are at Standon Calling in Hertfordshire this weekend to see headliners Bryan Ferry, George Ezra, and Paloma Faith. Festival director Alex Trenchard says he happily signed the Drastic on Plastic pledge after seeing a real difference in the plastic waste the festival generates since reusable cups were introduced a few years ago." https://bit.ly/2LKJP9M

* LOCAL NEWS *

CHICAGO:  The Windy City Wine Festival will take place September 7-8 at Buckingham Fountain. The event will have samples of more than 300 wines from around the world. 

NEW YORK:  The second annual Avenue Altruism Awards will take place September 13 at the United Nations. The gala benefits the U.N. Sustainable Development Goal number three—Good Health and Well-Being. 

The fifth annual New York Media Festival will take place October 4-5. The festival will feature more than 300 speakers from companies such as Roku, Dot Blockchain Media, and Universal Music Group. 

Marriott International will open a Ritz-Carlton in NoMad in 2021. CN Traveler: https://bit.ly/2OeGWwe

For information on upcoming events in New York, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/newyork

LOS ANGELES:  The Los Angeles Times food festival the Taste will take place August 31-September 2 at Paramount Pictures Studios. Special programming at each event will be dedicated to the publication's late restaurant critic Jonathan Gold. 

For information on upcoming events in Los Angeles, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles

TORONTO:  This year's Small World Music Festival will take place August 17-19 at Harbourfront Centre. The free festival will have music from Estonia, Cuba, Mali, Spain, and more. 

YOUR NEWS: What are you doing? Tell us: [email protected]. 

JOB BOARD: Post a job or find a job: http://jobs.bizbash.com

With contributions from Claire Hoffman in Los Angeles and Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, Ian Zelaya, and Kristine Liao in New York.

BizBash Daily is the must-read digest of event industry news from BizBash.com.

Feed the Sheet: [email protected]

Subscribe: www.bizbash.com/bizbashdaily

Advertise with BizBash: [email protected]