Association of Independent Festivals Fallow Fund Receives Support from Over 20 Suppliers
The fund from the UK organization was established to sustain festivals taking a year off
The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) has officially received backing from dozens of suppliers for its 2026 Fallow Festival Fund. The fund was first established in 2025 to support UK festivals that opted to take a year off to return in stronger form.
Background:
The fund aims to support festivals in areas such as production, legal, finance, event management, sustainability, and ticketing.
Some of the companies that have pledged backing to the fund include Skiddle, Discotech, A Greener Future, We Group, and Eventwise.
Businesses looking to support and promoters of independent festivals that will take a fallow year in 2026 to return in 2027 can apply for the fund here.
Since 2020, more than 200 festivals have folded throughout the UK.
The fund was launched in February 2025 after AIF reported that 78 festivals were either postponed, cancelled, or closed entirely in the previous year.
What they said:
AIF CEO John Rostron: “We are incredibly proud to be relaunching the Fallow Festival Fund for 2026. This initiative is central to the AIF’s core mission: to represent, support, and help unique independent festivals to survive and thrive. We are deeply heartened by the generous support already pledged by industry suppliers and contributors. These pledges form a robust package for festivals entering a fallow year in 2026, providing the expertise, stability, and tools necessary to ensure a successful, long-term return for as many participants as possible.”
Rob Dudley, COO at We Group (We Are The Fair/We Are Ops/We Are Placemaking): “Supporting independent culture throughout the festival industry is at the heart of what we do and what we stand for as a company. Working with AIF to support independent festivals and enabling them to thrive is something we’re really proud to do. Both through our co-founder and CEO Nick Morgan’s work as vice-chair of AIF and by getting behind important initiatives like the Fallow Festival Fund."
The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) has officially received backing from dozens of suppliers for its 2026 Fallow Festival Fund. The fund was first established in 2025 to support UK festivals that opted to take a year off to return in stronger form.
Background:
The fund aims to support festivals in areas such as production, legal, finance, event management, sustainability, and ticketing.
Some of the companies that have pledged backing to the fund include Skiddle, Discotech, A Greener Future, We Group, and Eventwise.
Businesses looking to support and promoters of independent festivals that will take a fallow year in 2026 to return in 2027 can apply for the fund here.
Since 2020, more than 200 festivals have folded throughout the UK.
The fund was launched in February 2025 after AIF reported that 78 festivals were either postponed, cancelled, or closed entirely in the previous year.
What they said:
AIF CEO John Rostron: “We are incredibly proud to be relaunching the Fallow Festival Fund for 2026. This initiative is central to the AIF’s core mission: to represent, support, and help unique independent festivals to survive and thrive. We are deeply heartened by the generous support already pledged by industry suppliers and contributors. These pledges form a robust package for festivals entering a fallow year in 2026, providing the expertise, stability, and tools necessary to ensure a successful, long-term return for as many participants as possible.”
Rob Dudley, COO at We Group (We Are The Fair/We Are Ops/We Are Placemaking): “Supporting independent culture throughout the festival industry is at the heart of what we do and what we stand for as a company. Working with AIF to support independent festivals and enabling them to thrive is something we’re really proud to do. Both through our co-founder and CEO Nick Morgan’s work as vice-chair of AIF and by getting behind important initiatives like the Fallow Festival Fund."
The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) has officially received backing from dozens of suppliers for its 2026 Fallow Festival Fund. The fund was first established in 2025 to support UK festivals that opted to take a year off to return in stronger form.
Background:
The fund aims to support festivals in areas such as production, legal, finance, event management, sustainability, and ticketing.
Some of the companies that have pledged backing to the fund include Skiddle, Discotech, A Greener Future, We Group, and Eventwise.
Businesses looking to support and promoters of independent festivals that will take a fallow year in 2026 to return in 2027 can apply for the fund here.
Since 2020, more than 200 festivals have folded throughout the UK.
The fund was launched in February 2025 after AIF reported that 78 festivals were either postponed, cancelled, or closed entirely in the previous year.
What they said:
AIF CEO John Rostron: “We are incredibly proud to be relaunching the Fallow Festival Fund for 2026. This initiative is central to the AIF’s core mission: to represent, support, and help unique independent festivals to survive and thrive. We are deeply heartened by the generous support already pledged by industry suppliers and contributors. These pledges form a robust package for festivals entering a fallow year in 2026, providing the expertise, stability, and tools necessary to ensure a successful, long-term return for as many participants as possible.”
Rob Dudley, COO at We Group (We Are The Fair/We Are Ops/We Are Placemaking): “Supporting independent culture throughout the festival industry is at the heart of what we do and what we stand for as a company. Working with AIF to support independent festivals and enabling them to thrive is something we’re really proud to do. Both through our co-founder and CEO Nick Morgan’s work as vice-chair of AIF and by getting behind important initiatives like the Fallow Festival Fund."
👋 Disclosures & Transparency Block
This article was written with information sourced from Music Week.
We covered it to represent the current state of independent festivals.
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