by Jade French

Lockdown has seen events, experiences, festivals and more grind to a halt over the past few months, as the world gets to grips with COVID-19. Many companies have shown ingenuity when it comes to pivoting to online offerings, from hybrid experiences to interactive content. But what long-term effects will we see impacting the events industry in the coming year?

Even more hybrid experiences
Combining the physical and the virtual opens up new possibilities for events held at home. Depending on budgets, we might see AR (augmented reality) developed to bring music festivals inside our bedrooms or supplement online workshops with real materials (who wouldn’t want cocktail ingredients sent to them through the post?). 

Even better, physical elements help avoid screen fatigue, Zoom gloom and the eerie disconnected feeling that emerges when we’re conducting all our lives online. Mixing a combination of digital elements and physical supplements will inform and shape our world and allow us to create adventures beyond (yet within) our four walls. 

Embracing content-first approaches
From virtual tours to online exhibitions and live-streamed theatre, there has been a shift in how we consume cultural content. With an audience-centred approach, event experts have the edge in imagining what interactive online content can look as an interactive and person-led experience. 

What might the future of video conferencing look like? How about live, broadcast interactivity? Netflix has trialled interactive TV episodes of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch but what would these look like as live offerings? As the audience gains control of their content, prepare for user-generated platforms to reach the next level. 

Getting creative with local travel 
The way we travel will change in the next year and the option of attending a virtual event may be preferable to many people. But there has been one small concession made to travelling locally: the return of the drive-in, whether that’s the English National Opera’s drive and live performances at Alexandra Palace or the revival of the drive-through restaurant across America. 

Experts are suggesting that travel will begin to ease back in via road trips and local ‘staycations’. For event and experience experts, this means an opportunity to celebrate what regional areas have to offer and re-inject tourism into local hotspots, like Dr. Marten’s ongoing event series in Dublin, Manchester, Glasgow and Liverpool.  

Building on (accidental) sustainability
As the world slowed down, nature started to emerge. As reported by The Drum, events and experiences are the fifth biggest polluter on the planet. British festivals alone produce 23,500 tonnes of waste, use five million litres of fuel and emit almost 20,000 tonnes of CO2 (carbon dioxide) every single year. 

As suggested by the Harvard Business Review, it’s time for events and experiences to build sustainability into their strategies to capitalise on the accidental benefit of the pandemic, which has seen environmental pollution reduced globally up to 30%. 

Overall, events and experiences will change. Although people might go back to their old ways, they’ll want events built on sustainability, appreciation for technology and hybrid approaches to experiences that can help shape the industry for the better.