GRONINGEN, NL (CelebrityAccess) — Melvin Benn is to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the European Festival Awards, taking place during Eurosonic Noorderslag in the Netherlands on Wednesday, January 14.
The veteran promoter is the driving force behind Latitude and Reading & Leeds Festivals and overseas events including Electric Picnic, Benicassim, Hove and Berlin Festival.
Benn also operated as Glastonbury Festival`s licensee for a decade, has been chairman of the board of directors of Wembley Stadium since May 2011 and sits as a representative on the Concert Promoters Association (CPA).
Previous winners include Michael Eavis (in 2011), Jan Smeets (Netherlands), Leif Skov (Denmark), Herman Schueremans (Belgium) and Marek Lieberberg (Germany).
Discussing the honour, Benn said: “I’m very flattered and honoured to receive this prestigious award and join an incredible line-up of previous winners. I work with the best in the business and couldn’t do what I do without a really strong team around me; my thanks go to all those individuals past and present who’ve helped to make our events what they are.
"I’m hugely passionate about our industry and every day continues to excite me as we push the boundaries of the festival experience and create lifelong memories for music fans and audiences.”
Steve Jenner, Festival Awards director and co-founder, commented: “Melvin Benn’s signature has, for a long time, been engraved deeper than any other’s into the shape and character of the UK’s major festival market. This takes the form of a unique and unequalled blend of operational preeminence and heartfelt passion for his events and audiences, one which continues to set new standards in production, safety and sustainability that extend tangibly well beyond his own events.
"It’s a great testament to Melvin that his commitment and contributions are now being recognised at a Continental level, and it is an honour for us to be the ones presenting this award.”
