Festival Republic is a UK music promoter. Among its interests, it runs the Reading and Leeds festivals

Reading and Leeds Festivals

The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, sharing the same bill. The Reading Festival is held at Little John's Farm...

 and is contracted to manage the Glastonbury Festival

Glastonbury Festival

The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...

.

History

The group was founded in 1982 by chairman Vince Power, with a venue called simply Mean Fiddler. After acquiring the LA2 (now known as the Astoria2) in Charing Cross Road

Charing Cross Road

Charing Cross Road is a street in central London running immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles Circus and then becomes Tottenham Court Road...

 in 2000, it was renamed to become the Mean Fiddler Music Group

Mean Fiddler Music Group

Festival Republic is a UK music promoter. Among its interests, it runs the Reading and Leeds festivals and is contracted to manage the Glastonbury Festival.-History:...

. Melvin Benn is the current managing director.

In April 2005, they accepted a takeover bid from Hamsard Ltd, a co-operative company 50.1% owned by Live Nation UK

Live Nation UK

Live Nation UK is the United Kingdom subsidiary of Live Nation, formerly the entertainment division of Clear Channel, a major US media conglomerate but now a separate and independent corporation worldwide...

 (formerly the entertainment division of Clear Channel UK

Clear Channel UK

Clear Channel UK is a division of Clear Channel Communications, the global media conglomerate based in the United States. It operates through a complex group structure, with some 70 UK subsidiary companies.As with its U.S...

 but now part of Live Nation

Live Nation

Live Nation is a live-events company based in Beverly Hills, California, focused on concert promotions. Live Nation formed in 2005 as a spin-off from Clear Channel Communications, which then merged with Ticketmaster in 2010 to become Live Nation Entertainment....

 International) and 49.9% owned by Irish event organiser MCD

MCD PRODUCTIONS

MCD Productions is an Irish concert promotion company. Established in 1980, and headquartered in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.- History :The company was founded by Eamonn McCann and Denis Desmond, the company name MCD is made up of their initials....

.

In 2006, the Mean Fiddler Music Group reduced its touring and promotion activities to concentrate on running festivals. It maintained control of the successful Reading and Leeds festivals and announced a new addition – Latitude Festival

Latitude Festival

The Latitude Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk, England. It was first held in July 2006....

. Hotbox Events

Hotbox Events

Hotbox Events is a company that recruits and manages staff and volunteers for UK festivals such as the Leeds Festival, Reading Festival, Latitude Festival and The Big Chill...

, headed by director Mark Hatchard

Mark Hatchard

Mark Hatchard is a director of the Hotbox Studios animation and design company and is involved with the contemporary arts and music festival group, Festival Republic, through Hotbox Studios' sister company Hotbox Events...

, has been supplying staff and volunteers for UK festivals on behalf of Festival Republic since 2003.

In 2007, the Mean Fiddler Music Group

Mean Fiddler Music Group

Festival Republic is a UK music promoter. Among its interests, it runs the Reading and Leeds festivals and is contracted to manage the Glastonbury Festival.-History:...

 was sold along with several venues to Mama Group Plc in order to allow Festival Republic to concentrate on promoting festivals. As part of the sale, the Mama Group

MAMA Group

MAMA Group Limited is a live venue and artist management company which was founded in 2002 and is owned by the HMV Group. It is a parent company of a range of music and marketing businesses...

 has acquired the rights to the Mean Fiddler

Mean Fiddler

The Astoria 2, subsequently known as the LA2 then the Mean Fiddler, was a nightclub at 165 Charing Cross Road in London, England.The venue was connected to the London Astoria such that the two venues could function as a single venue where needed...

 trademark.

Festival Promotion and Production

• Reading Festival
• Leeds Festival
  Leeds Festival
  Leeds Festival may refer to:*Reading and Leeds Festivals , a rock music festival in Leeds , West Yorkshire, England*Leeds Festival , European classical music festival in Leeds...
  
  
• Latitude Festival
  Latitude Festival
  The Latitude Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk, England. It was first held in July 2006....
  
  
• Big Chill
  The Big Chill (music festival)
  The Big Chill is an annual festival of alternative, dance and chill-out music and comedy, held in the grounds of Eastnor Castle during early August...
  
  
• Glastonbury Festival
  Glastonbury Festival
  The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
  
  
• Electric Picnic
  Electric Picnic
  The 2005 festival took place on Saturday 3 September and Sunday 4 September. It is best remembered for Arcade Fire's performance which came before their subsequent mainstream success...
  
  , Ireland
• Hove Festival
  Hove Festival
  The Hove Festival is a music festival held on the island Tromøy outside of Arendal in southern Norway. It was held for the first time from 26–30 June 2007. Since 2007 Hove festival has been the largest music festival in Norway....
  
  , Norway

Former Venues

• London Astoria
  London Astoria
  The London Astoria was a music venue, located at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England. It had been leased and run by Festival Republic since 2000. It was closed on 15 January 2009 and has since been demolished...
  
  
• London Forum
  London Forum
  The London Forum, or sometimes Kentish Town Forum is a well-known venue for concerts in Kentish Town, London, United Kingdom owned by the MAMA Group. The venue was built in 1934 and was originally used as an art deco cinema. After the closure of the cinema, The Town & Country Club was established...
  
  
• Mean Fiddler
  Mean Fiddler
  The Astoria 2, subsequently known as the LA2 then the Mean Fiddler, was a nightclub at 165 Charing Cross Road in London, England.The venue was connected to the London Astoria such that the two venues could function as a single venue where needed...
  
  
• Jazz Café
  Jazz Café
  The Jazz Café is a music venue in Parkway in Camden Town, London, England. It opened in 1990, in the former premises of Barclays Bank, and has been run by Mean Fiddler Music Group since 1992, now a subsidiary of the MAMA Group.-History:...
  
  
• The Garage
  The Garage (night club)
  The Garage is a music venue and nightclub located at 490 Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow which opened in 1994, it is Scotland's largest nightclub. The Main Hall was formerly a ballroom known as The Mayfair, although it has since been remodelled by the addition of an extension to the Mezzanine level...
  
  
• The Borderline
• The Grand
• The Old Fiddler
• The Crossbar
• The Complex
• Media
• Point 101
• Powers Bar
• Ion Bar
• Bartok
• The Z Bar

Sources

• http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2148204,00.html
• http://www.virtualfestivals.com/latest/news/3960

External links

• New official site
• MyNottingHill.co.uk: Vince Powers - The Mean Fiddler