A group of independent festival organisers and grassroots venues have announced that they are to launch a “pioneering, gamechanging music collective” with the aim of reversing the slow decline of the UK’s alternative live circuit.
The collective’s first event will be the Where It All Began festival next Spring. There are no more details as yet, though it has been backed by the Music Venue Trust and Freddie Fellowes, from the Secret Garden Party festival, has offered to host the event at his family’s farm in Cambridgeshire.
Announcing the event, Si Chai, founder of the Chai Wallahs and one of the leading lights behind the new collective said: “The current independent festival model has become unsustainable, pressured and too financially stressful for most organisers since Covid, which means a wealth of incredible grassroots artists are being denied a fair opportunity to perform and carve out their own careers. I’ve got a plan to save it that will work, but it needs everybody to get involved.”
The new collective will operate as a Community Benefit Society, with participants co-owning and co-programming Where It All Began. A public crowdfunding campaign will launch later this year.
“This is a rescue plan,” Chai said. “We’re not here to compete with the independent scene. We’re here to help.”
The idea is that smaller festivals and promoters will only be able to survive if they work together. Their model is to reduce production and transport costs by up to 40% by sharing resources and databases.
It’s no secret that smaller festivals are being squeezed as never before in the UK. According to the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), almost 80 UK festivals were cancelled or closed in 2024 – twice that of 2023. The reasons are all too familiar – rising insurance premiums, energy costs, licensing fees, exclusive supplier deals and a cost of living crisis which has meant punters are increasingly rationing their spending on summer festivals.
Already, nine independent venues have joined the new organisation, with many more expected to follow. John Rostron, the Chief Executive of AIF described Chai’s model is “pioneering and gamechanging”. He added: “It is an interesting and creative potential solution to the current crisis that might just get us over the line by sharing the risk of holding a festival that is now too great to be shouldered by any one organiser on their own.”
More details about Where It All Began will doubtless follow in the coming months.
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