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Described as a “festival of festivals” by its co-founder, Grassroots Rising festival is being launched to unite several festivals on one site to support independent events that have been unable to proceed on their own due to financial constraints.
The Grassroots Rising festival is being organised by a team including Chai Wallahs & Diplomats of Sound creative director Si Chai. Speaking on a panel at the Association of Independent Festivals Congress today, 5 February, Si said the event will involve multiple independent festival operators, grassroots venue owners and club promoters who combined will provide serveral platforms for grassroots music at the event.
Scheduled for the weekend of 18-21 June next year, the new festival will take place on the Huntingdon site previously used by the Secret Garden Party (pictured), with its founder Freddie Fellowes having offered its use for free. The Secret Garden Party will feature as part of the event, and via a partnership with Music Venue Trust some nine venues are already onboard.
The festival will operate as a community benefit society, where profits are redistributed to community partners, and participants have a voice in the organisation. The launch will be accompanied by a formal announcement and a Crowdfunder launch in late summer.
Si said that as the festival is the creation of a community benefit society, it will be VAT exempt and will provide other substantial cost savings: “It’s an alternative model, and for festival and venue operators it doesn’t cost any money. We will raise the money through a Crowdfunder.
“For an independent festival operator that may be struggling it removes a huge amount of pressure and stress. The cost savings are dramatic: If we bring six festivals together in one environment, we’re saving around 30-40% on infrastructure costs and transportation. There is also a saving on digital marketing costs because we’ve all built up our own databases. We’ve all got previous ticket buyers, and we can communicate directly to them and market directly to them.
“We want to create a sustainable festival model and a platform for independent operators that’s there forever.”
-cHRISTOPHER bARRETT / ACCESS ALL AREAS