Independent Venue Week Announces Digital U.S. Dates

Independent Venues Week is going ahead in digital format Oct. 24-30, with funds raised benefitting the National Independent Venue Association’s Emergency Relief Fund. 

Partners for the event include Eventbrite, Big Room and Ascend Insurance Brokerage, and organizers are inviting independent venues from throughout the U.S. to submit virtual programming. 

IVW was scheduled to take place in July, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It would have been the event’s third year staging in the U.S. and was set to take place in 120 venues across 70 cities. 

The original IVW was founded by Sybil Bell in the U.K. in 2014. Inspired and modeled after the Record Store Day initiative, the event essentially invites venues to participate by hosting shows under the IVW banner in the U.K. in late January, a typically slow period. The model was ported over the U.S. by boutique music marketing firm Marauder.

“While Independent Venue Week has always been a celebration of the autonomy of independently owned stages, COVID-19 has necessitated we re-frame the event. In this modified, online version we will be able to jointly showcase what makes these rooms so special, while raising funds that will go to venues and promoters staving off permanent closure,” Rev. Moose, Managing Partner at Marauder and executive director of NIVA said in a statement.

NIVA was one of the coalition of live industry groups that signed onto a letter sent to Congress today. 

Those seeking to participate in or donate to Independent Venues Week can contact  [email protected].