Music / News
Festival favourites launch fund to support the grassroots
Chai Wallahs, the tent that’s hosted countless ‘favourite ever’ festival moments, has launched a Grassroots Supporters Fund to aid struggling artists and venues.
The 2000 capacity venue, which calls itself a ‘travelling circus for musicians’, has been presenting diverse lineups of independent artists – and fabulous signature cocktails – at festivals including Green Man, Kendall Calling, Shambala and Shindig, since 2007.
A longstanding partnership with Secret Garden Party led to the festival adopting their Drop a Headliner stance this year. The campaign seeks to eliminate exorbitantly expensive headline acts to free up funds for DIY artists.
is needed now More than ever
They say the equivalent cost of one headliner, estimated at £150,000 or £2500 per minute, would support 222 emerging acts or around 1110 individual performers.
Bristol-based Chai Wallahs are also making concerted efforts to tackle issues like rising costs and decreasing ticket sales that are impacting independent festivals, the major platform for grassroots artists to perform in front of larger audiences.
21 UK festivals have been cancelled or postponed this year, with 100 at risk of disappearing completely, according to the Association of Independent Festivals.
Independent venues are also struggling, with 125 closing in 2023 alone, and musicians are suffering the knock-on effects.
Chai Wallahs was born in Bristol out of a passion for the electric experience of getting up close and personal with your favourite bands
The Grassroots Supporters Fund will subsidise gigs, pay for artist development programs, help musicians build sustainable careers and support lobbying of festival organisers and government to shape a fairer landscape for independent musicians.
But Chai Wallahs production manager Potter believes it’s more than that.
“It’s about the personal connection between people and music. It’s tangible and exciting, electric and wonderful,” he says. “You can have a hand in making sure independent musicians have sustainable careers so they can bring what they bring to your life.
“At the moment we’re sitting in this situation where, because the divide between headliners playing stadiums and independent artists is so great, there doesn’t seem to be any kind of clear route to get to that place through just working hard and being good at music.
“But we’re stronger together. If we’re all pushing in the same direction, starting a movement, being abit anarchic about all this – then we can affect the change we want to see.”
Chai Wallahs will be at Secret Garden Party this weekend, then Kendall Calling and Green Man later in the summer
Find more information on the Grassroots Supporters Fund at www.patreon.com/grassrootssupportersfund
Chai Wallahs will be linking up with the Jam Jar to bring their quality lineups to the St Jude’s venue, starting with Omega Nebula on October 12. Find out more at www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/whats-on/jam-jar/sat-12-oct-chai-wallahs-presents-omega-nebula-110822#e110822
All photos: Chai Wallahs
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