Rebranding the North East Night Out

Female-led events company Marisam launch transport safety campaign to promote safe nights out for women and gender minorities

The Late ‘n’ Drive campaign is set to launch with a special event at The Grove on 2 March

Marisam Events are best-known for the popular event series, Late ‘n’ Live, the North East’s first and only live music quiz event

Marisam Events, a female-led events company aiming to reshape the North East’s live music industry, has recently announced a brand new campaign to help make Newcastle a sexual harassment-free zone.

The safe travel campaign – Late ‘n’ Drive – will support women and gender minorities to safely travel to and from live events in the North East. This ongoing campaign will include long-term partnerships with taxi firms and their female drivers to make audiences feel safer on their journey home.

The campaign will launch with a special edition of Marisam’s flagship event series Late ‘n’ Live at The Grove on Saturday 2 March, a unique and wildly popular mash-up of pub quiz and live music show.

A representative from the influential organisation Shout-Up! will be attending this particular event to support and discuss the scheme. This will kickstart an ongoing support system for event attendees.

Despite the significant strides made towards gender equality in recent years, sexual harassment and assault remains a widespread issue. Rape Crisis describes it as a “sexual violence pandemic”, with an estimated 798,000 women being raped or sexually assaulted every year.

It is understandable, then, that one in two women say they feel unsafe walking home alone after dark, compared to one in seven men.

With funding from Newcastle City Council’s Safe Newcastle scheme, the Shout-Up! initiative launched in 2017 and offers training to bars, pubs and clubs to help them understand the impact of sexual harassment and gives staff confidence to intervene safely.

It seeks to usher in a new era of safeguarding for women and gender minorities by moving beyond the well-established Ask for Angela campaigns and promoting greater awareness and accountability.

“We’re super excited to be working with such influential organisations like Shout-Up!,” said Sam Harris, co-founder of Marisam Events.

“One of our main priorities at Marisam is promoting safe and inclusive spaces at all our events, and this is another step in the right direction.

“Moving into the new year, we want to continue re-investing in the fantastic creative sector and community our region offers.”

Marisam Events was launched in 2021 by two young founders, PR professional Sam Harris and music journalist Maria Winter. With a mission to support, showcase and celebrate the

creativity of local musicians and creatives in the NE, the pair say they are “laser-focused” on providing fair wages for artists, fair profits for stakeholders and fair prices for event attendees.

With several sold-out events already under their belt and financial support from the Youth Music NextGen Fund, the two-woman team are making waves in the North East music scene with their refreshing business model that advocates for a more transparent, inclusive and diverse creative sector.

“The objective of our Late ‘n’ Live entertainment service is to re-vamp the famous North East night out, offering unique versions of traditional pub quiz & karaoke events,” Winter added.

“We are so grateful for all the support people have shown so far. Marisam Events strives to shine a light on the inherent creativity within the North East, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds.”

Late ‘n’ Live will return in the new year where quizzers will once again test their musical knowledge with a series of questions all soundtracked by a talented live band of local musicians.

The event takes place at The Grove, 1 St Michael’s Rd, Byker, NE6 1QU on the 2 March 2024.

Tickets are available to buy now from Fatsoma.
Age restrictions: 16+ (under 18’s accompanied by an adult).