Set to run from July 12 to 18, 2021,
Independent Venue Week has announced the dates for its 2021 edition following the conclusion of #IVW20. Set to run from July 12 to 18, 2021, Independent Venue Week is now accepting sign-ups from independent venues and promoters interested in being part of next year's week-long celebration of the spirit of independence.
Independent Venue Week sends its utmost thanks to its Artist Ambassador for #IVW20, Alison Mosshart of The Kills and Dead Weather. In an op-ed published on Billboard during the final day of Independent Venue Week, Mosshart looked back at how independent venues were formative to her career and why ensuring their survival is of the top priority.
"I wrote letters by post to independent venues around the whole of America asking if they would have us," she says. "We didn't even have a band name yet, nor did we use our real names... but we got so many letters back that I booked 3 solid months of gigs around the country. Those bookers were gamblers, and ultimately saviors. That tour changed our lives."
"At the start of this year, Independent Venue Week was already on track to be the biggest one yet," states Cecilie Nielsen, Director of Special Projects at Marauder, the firm that runs Independent Venue Week in the US. "Unsurprisingly, the pandemic and the dire situation it put all of our partner venues in, forced a fundamental reconfiguration of the event and Marauder's commitment to these stages. The weekly calls we started hosting to help this national network grew and quickly led to the formation of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA). While we're immensely proud of everything NIVA has achieved so far, including bipartisan support for the yet-to-be-passed Save Our Stages Act in Congress, we also know that these very public victories have changed nothing about the venues' situation; they're still not getting the help they so desperately need. So, we decided to, once again, leverage Independent Venue Week, raising approximately $17,000 dollars so far for the NIVA Emergency Relief Fund through a charitable auction. We're committed to continue these fundraising efforts for the rest of 2020 and, if need be, into next year as well."Videos