UK festivals are struggling. He's the solution

Festival season is coming into its final month, and people all over the country will have enjoyed countless unforgettable moments this summer and in September. It’s the personal connection that makes a festival a special occasion - sharing great music and great times with friends away from the stresses of everyday life. But they’re also of vital importance to the wider creative economy, contributing billions to the national purse and putting the UK on an international stage.

All of which makes the struggles of the independent festival industry immensely worrying. The cost-of-living impacts both the income and expenditure of a festival. With less disposable income, people are having to be more selective about the events they attend, while almost every cost of producing a festival has gone through the roof - many have reported that their costs have risen by 30% in recent years. From the outside, it’s perhaps hard to see the outgoings involved in running an independent festival. Even a boutique 10,000 capacity weekend festival demands a daunting budget. No wonder, then, this year alone, the UK has lost over 60 festivals and counting - including some big names.

But with adversity comes opportunity, and I’m still just as  excited for the future of our industry. Why? Well, read on…

What the public wants from a festival is changing, and those events which follow the standard formula are most in danger of becoming part of the current natural shred. But there are plenty of opportunities for festivals which have a vision and entrepreneurial passion driving event organisers and those who do something different from the pack. These are traits which the independent sector has always thrived by. 

This is particularly true for more specialised festivals, whether they’re genre-specific (Eastern Electric), or highlight underground artists (Maiden Voyage), or that set the music in beautiful surroundings (think Wasing, Houghton Hall or Tufte Manor). If beyond these you can also leverage an established brand, you really have the potential to create a festival that can run for years to come. The Fair’s work on the upcoming Jazz Cafe Festival is a prime example. Blending the Jazz Cafe’s expertise in curation and brand loyalty and recognition with The Fair’s decades of experience and creative production expertise, it will really add something unique to the London festival calendar.

It’s also vital to create a community spirit around your festival. Achieving this is a multifaceted challenge. Delivering a top tier experience is essential: the line-up needs to inspire people, but ensuring the infrastructure is on point is just as important. The margins can be ruthless: 2-3% certainly isn’t uncommon, so trimming a little from the budget for, say, fencing or stewarding or toilets would be an obvious temptation. But it’s an approach that’s rife with danger. At best, a weaker production makes attendees feel like they’re being short-changed. At worst, it can permanently ruin your festival’s reputation.

Beyond the festival itself, we must make fans feel valued. It’s largely a matter of communication - listening to their feedback, explaining some of the harder decisions you have to make, and encouraging them to build a community via socials. It’s tough to achieve such loyalty, but if you do it’s invaluable. Your original, dedicated fans effectively become word-of-mouth ambassadors, which create an organic buzz around your festival driving growth.. It also results in more fans being willing to commit to being a ticket months in advance, which really helps to counteract cash flow issues

Festivals naturally attract entrepreneurs with vision and ambition, which is great. But it is a business full of pitfalls for those coming in without any prior experience. Probably the best tip I can give is to find a mentor when you’re starting out. They can help guide you through the process, offering invaluable advice as you learn about an industry which has a daunting variety of demands.

This is part of why I believe improving and making entrepreneurial education is crucial, especially within the festival world. The need for hard work, long unsociable hours, and to always stay ahead of the competition is obvious. You can always learn from your mistakes in any industry, but the more knowledge you have, the quicker you’ll adapt to the inevitable festival variables and unpredictable nature of the industry.  Setting up our future festival leaders for success should be one of our priorities.

I know that the industry can weather the storm with forward thinking strategy, creativity and expertise. Together, we can take the festival experience and lessons of 2024 - and prepare the new generation to keep things exciting. 

With 60 shows already cancelled in 2024 and more likely to follow, is it time to call for an industry-wide discussion on finding solutions that help independent festivals remain financially feasible, without relying on government intervention?