The Association Of Independent Festivals today launched a new scheme to support festivals that are forced to take a year off because of economic factors, while also calling on Parliament’s Culture Media & Sport Select Committee to undertake an inquiry into the festivals sector.
As the trade group staged its annual Festival Congress in Bristol, it also published its latest stats on how many festivals have been forced to cancel or postpone since the start of the first COVID lockdowns in 2020.
“A total of 96 festivals fell during the pandemic”, it revealed, while “36 fell in 2023, 78 fell in 2024 and, already in 2025, five festivals have either cancelled, postponed or called time on their event”. Which means, combined, “there have been 215 UK festival casualties since the pandemic”.
“Grassroots independent music festivals are more than events; they’re the lifeblood of the UK arts landscape, providing a platform for emerging talent, supporting local economies and bringing joy to millions”, says AIF CEO John Rostron. “But without government support”, he adds, “these festivals face unprecedented challenges”.
AIF has repeatedly called for more government support for festivals, in particular a VAT cut on tickets, but ministers have so far declined to assist the sector in that way. A CMS Select Committee inquiry, Roston says, would be “a new opportunity to make our voices heard”.
The select committee has actively invited people and organisations from the culture, media and sport industries to proposed topics for a possible ‘state of play’ inquiry, and AIF’s call is a response to that invitation.
Select committees have limited power, in that they can’t tell government what to do. However, their inquiries - and the reports and recommendations that follow - can nevertheless have impact, with past inquiries resulting in government-led initiatives around streaming and ticketing.
AIF says that it hopes a select committee inquiry into festivals could result in a “recognition that festivals are falling at an alarming rate”, and “a temporary fiscal intervention from the UK government” that “will prevent closures and lead to growth”.
The trade body also used its Festival Congress to formally launch its Fallow Festival Fund, a new scheme to support festivals that are forced to take a year off because of economic factors. Festivals that take a fallow year usually intend to use the year off to consider and implement changes that will help ensure a successful return the following year, and this new scheme aims to help with that process.
The fund is backed by ticketing company Citizen Ticket, which will provide free use of its accreditation and event management platform Eventree, and offer festivals the option to sell up to 2000 tickets without admin fees. AIF will also provide a free one year membership.
Other players from across the sector are being encouraged to support the fund, either financially or by offering services and expertise. The aim is to also help fallow year festivals to access legal, financial planning and production expertise to help them evolve their events and festival businesses.