“ If they didn ’ t have rent to pay , everyone would want to be an artist but that ' s not everyone ' s reality .”
Freddie Fellowes SUMMER | FEATURE
“ If they didn ’ t have rent to pay , everyone would want to be an artist but that ' s not everyone ' s reality .”
“ Garden Party was always something that was conceived of as a force for good and joy . It was an extension of our values . About nine months ago a member of my team said , ‘ have you ever thought of formalising that ?’ That was like a light bulb going on .
“ The festival is run not for profit , it ’ s run to cover the wages , and create something more than itself . By formalising that , it is more communicable . We started looking at different ways to formalise the company structure as being built for good , and social enterprise seemed the most obvious and sensible choice . It ’ s been a wonderful sort of lens to start looking at the whole business through , and all our side events .”
While Fellowes is not aware of many other festival operators to take the social enterprise route , he has spoken to Medicine Festival ’ s Josh and Di Dugdale who also run their event as a social enterprise on their own estate .
“ They ’ ve come at it from an angle that the event is integral part of their estate and weaving it into the fabric of the local area , that ’ s very much what we ’ re looking to do ,” he says . “ What ’ s rather nice about having made the announcement is that it has become something of a homing beacon : suddenly a lot of people are getting in touch saying , ‘ we ’ d love to hold hands with you and get involved and do something similar ’. All sorts of exciting things are suddenly coming out of the woodwork as a result .”
Asked who and what will benefit from the charitable spending , Fellowes says it ’ s very early days but the intention is to help support work similar to that being carried out by Bridges For Music in South Africa .
“ The Garden Party has been an amazing journey of rehabilitation and integration with arts . All sorts of people and groups have been enabled to go on to become businesses , bands or collectives that would never have happened were it not for the spark that the Garden Party offered . That ’ s been a real privilege . We ’ ve been looking at areas where that kind of integration , rehabilitation , and redefinition of people ’ s perception of what they can do in the world is affected . We have taken real inspiration from Bridges for Music , which set up a music school in the township of Langa in Cape Town . They ’ ve got another outreach in Johannesburg , and have done amazing work by offering music schools , not just practising music
but also teaching the technical side . A lot of what they offer in terms of the teaching and the training are life skills and mindfulness . We ’ re focusing on people in England who fit that definition of having been disenfranchised , whether that ’ s through circumstance , movement to this country or just by birth .”
In terms of what is involved in the transition to becoming a social enterprise , Fellowes says it only takes a minor clerical change but the real legwork is making the mission a reality on the ground : “ It ’ s everything from looking at how we can enable apprenticeships and internships on the farm , so that ’ s converting a farm building to a dormitory , to turning the event business into more of a 12-month-a-year project so that we can integrate that facility of rehabilitation into what we do .”
The next edition of Secret Garden Party will be staged on 20-23 July , with headline acts including Underworld , Róisín Murphy and The Libertines . Fellowes says that despite at least 65 % of profits being spent on charitable work , the move to become a social enterprise will not result in a reduced investment in the event ’ s production and / or content .
“ As an event we are always evolving , that ’ s one of the main integral values for the Garden Party , the frontier always moves and we keep moving with it . Becoming a social enterprise will certainly not mean the production is scaled back , quite the opposite . It will encourage engagement and involvement with artists because if there are issues you are both engaging with then the possibilities are expanded .
“ With festival production you always try and get the biggest band for the smallest buck . It will be nice to move into an area where you ’ re not trying to squeeze your resources but working very closely with artists to create a value exchange that makes sense for all .”
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