A group of festival organisers and folk venues have launched an “innovative, game-changing music collective” to combat what they say is the slow collapse of Britain’s alternative live music scene.
Blaming skyrocketing costs and corporate dominance for driving dozens of smaller events to close, the nonprofit festival will bring together independent festivals, venues and collectives to share resources, reduce costs and audiences.
Chai Wallahs founder Si Chai, where it all started, has backed the music venue trust for a festival set for next spring. Freddie Fellowes, founder of the Secret Garden Party festival, has offered to host the event at his family farm in Cambridgeshire.
“The current independent festival model has become unsustainable, oppressive, and too financially strained for most organizers since CoVid, meaning many incredible local artists are being denied a fair chance to perform and cultivate their careers,” Chai said. “I have a plan to keep it going that will work, but it requires everyone to be on board.”
The cooperative will operate as a community benefit society, with members owning and co-programming the festival. A community crowdfunding campaign will be launched later this year, offering members a stake in the management of the event.
“This is a rescue plan,” Chai said. “We’re not here to compete with the independent scene. We’re here to help.”
Organizers say the model is designed to reduce production and transportation costs by up to 40%, while marketing will rely on shared databases rather than expensive commercial campaigns. The goal is to create a replicable project that could stabilize parts of the industry most vulnerable to market shocks.
These shocks have already been severe. According to the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), 78 UK festivals were cancelled or closed in 2024 – more than double the number lost the previous year. The AIF blames a combination of rising insurance premiums, energy costs, licensing fees and exclusive supplier deals as the main culprits.
More worryingly, said AIF chief executive John Rostron, was a cultural shift that would have a profound impact on the future of the British music scene. “Where small festivals once served as testing grounds for emerging artists, they are now struggling to survive in an industry increasingly skewed towards multinational operators such as Live Nation,” he said.
Live Nation Entertainment, which has helped launch the careers of stars including Adele, Ed Sheeran and Stormzy, was formed in 2010 after merging with Ticketmaster. It was a controversial launch that was initially opposed by the UK’s competition watchdog. The US-based company now runs all but one of the UK’s major festivals and collectively sells a quarter – or 880,000 – of all festival tickets in the region.
A Live Nation spokesperson agreed that “the pressure on festivals is being felt from the top down, with costs rising significantly”. But they added: “Independent festivals are where many artists take their first steps and where fans discover the music they love for a lifetime. Thanks to the popularity and success of some of our established festivals, we are able to partner with and invest in independent festivals and events such as The Great Escape, First Fifty and BBC Presents Reading and Leeds.”
Chai said where it all began was not trying to increase or rival that dominance. Instead, it’s meant to protect what remains.
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Nine independent venues and collectives have already signed up to participate in the first edition, with more expected to join before the public campaign opens.
Roston believes Chai’s model is “innovative and game-changing.” He added: “It’s an interesting and creative potential solution to the current crisis, which is perhaps only going to get us further along, sharing the risk of hosting a festival that is now too great to be a shoulder on its own.”
Fellowes said the new model is “necessary, hopeful and long overdue.”
“It fills a vital role in the development, patronage and support of artists, without which the growth of creativity will be stunted,” he said.
But Chai said the collective isn’t getting by on hope. It’s focused on survival, he said. “If it works, it won’t just be a festival,” he said. “It’ll be proof that independents still have power when they act together.”
