“The people who run festival businesses are people who love humanity. Why else would they work so hard to make thousands of people happy at once?”
That was how Jude Kelly OBE opened her keynote at Festival Congress, after the founders had welcomed the room. For me, this tweet captured the feeling in that hall perfectly:
Jude Kelly’s lecture at the start of the #FestivalCongress was fantastic. Set the tone for what will hopefully be a great couple of days. — Dan Thomas (@dan_thom), October 17, 2014
Accurate. I spent two unforgettable days in Cardiff, capital of Wales, attending an event organized by the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF). I had met one of AIF’s senior staff — also one of the architects of this event, designed for festival managers across Great Britain — during my visit to the UK with the British Council the previous May. Through her, I learned about the conference, which drew around 350 professional festival organizers.
The event takes place after what the industry calls “festival season” — the stretch from May to September when all the summer festivals run. Managers gather after the dust settles to discuss strategic issues, share problems and solutions, and expand their networks. This was AIF’s inaugural conference. I hope it continues.
Day One
The venue was BBC Hoddinott Hall, a space normally used for orchestral concerts. The grandeur of the room made it easy to set an impressive conference layout. Before the sessions began, there was a networking lunch at a nearby restaurant — sandwiches of every variety. In a corner of the room, a singer with an acoustic setup performed quietly. I later learned she was on the roster of a booking agency that had partnered with Festival Congress to promote their artists to the room full of festival bookers.
After lunch, attendees filtered into the conference hall. The panel quality was high — diverse backgrounds, deep expertise, but all united around the same goal: building a sustainable festival industry. A few highlights:
Dr. Emma Webster from Live Music Exchange, whose PhD thesis is a research study of the UK live music industry, presented six years of data from AIF member festivals. The findings were packaged into a book — I have a copy — full of useful reference points for anyone looking to work with UK festivals.
Tom Kiehl, Director of Government and Public Affairs at UK Music (the umbrella body for UK music trade associations), delivered an economic impact report on the live music industry. The methodology was rigorous and the findings were striking: in 2013 alone, 6.5 million music tourists visited the UK, contributing £2.2 billion to the economy. I spoke with Tom after his keynote — he mentioned wanting to involve me in future research. Exciting.
There were also fascinating stories about the David and Goliath dynamics of independent festivals versus Live Nation. Many major UK festivals — including Download and Leeds — have been acquired by Live Nation. One flashpoint is artist exclusivity: headliners who play Live Nation festivals are typically barred from performing in the same region for a set period. Artists tend to comply because Live Nation’s power in Europe is significant. Based on the panel discussion, no one has found a clean solution to this conflict yet.
After the session, I asked Alison Wenham — CEO of AIM (the UK independent music trade association) and Founding Chairman of WIN (the Worldwide Independent Network, which oversees 25 AIM-equivalent organizations globally) — about that dynamic. She had led the charge in bringing the YouTube vs. Independent Labels case to the European Union. Her take: companies are legally permitted to hold as much power as Live Nation does. What’s not permitted is abusing that power — as Google/YouTube had done with independent labels.
Edwina Hart MBE, Wales’s Minister for Economy, Science and Transport, also gave a keynote. She handled the room’s irreverent humor with ease. I later learned that Festival Congress was held in Wales partly because of active lobbying by the Welsh government — they wanted to introduce Wales to festival managers from across the UK (and a few from Europe).
Day one wrapped around 6pm with a party and awards ceremony at a nearby bar. I skipped it — I was exhausted, and I needed the energy for the next morning’s early departure back to London for the In Flames concert.
Day Two
Starting a little later, the day opened with a presentation by a Welsh music industry figure introducing the local scene to the conference. I hadn’t known that Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, and Super Furry Animals were all from Wales — as were Funeral for a Friend, Bullet for My Valentine, and a member of Underworld. It’s genuinely impressive what a small nation can produce in terms of internationally recognized rock and pop artists.
The session I found most useful — despite sounding dry on paper — was a presentation from Yourope on standard contract terms between festival organizers and artists. Every clause was walked through: payment standards, cancellation terms, security requirements, and the complications of dealing with agents who each have their own business model. The complexity of contracting in this industry is staggering.
That was the last session I attended — I had to leave Cardiff early to catch my train to London.
Key Lessons
Festival Congress was, above all, an opportunity to build new relationships. My approach: before arriving, I had already mapped out exactly who I wanted to meet — and in most cases, they happened to be on the panels. Every break, I made my way over to them, introduced myself, exchanged cards, and explained why I was there and what I was working on. Without exception, every single one of them responded with genuine interest in the idea and the potential for collaboration, where relevant.
This was also one of the clearest differences I’ve noticed between networking in developed markets versus Indonesia. People here are genuinely open to new opportunities. Which means that the cost of attending events like this one — or like TechCrunch Disrupt — is an investment that can pay off in ways you can’t always predict in advance.