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Secret Garden Party confirms social enterprise plan
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 17 April 2023
Organisers of the Secret Garden Party – which returned last year after a five year hiatus – last week announced that the festival is becoming a social enterprise, with at least 65% of the event’s profits set to be donated to projects and causes that help in the “rehabilitation of at risk and disenfranchised individuals via the arts”. Artists who play at the festival and people who attend will have a role in picking the charities that are supported.
Says festival founder Freddie Fellowes: “SGP has always been founded on a principle of inclusivity. This is a word that’s meaning has evolved and grown up along with us. As a result, we deeply understand how much work and effort is involved in ensuring that a party is truly inclusive. Recently much has been noted regarding how inclusive the music industry is – or isn’t – and this set us thinking about how much more we could go with our core principles of being progressive, inclusive, and relevant”.
“Rich kids being able to do art for a living may be a reflection of their privilege”, he goes on, “but it seems to me like a reflection of the fact that a human that doesn’t have to worry about money will often choose art. Everyone is an artist until rent is due. I wish we all had that right”.
“It is exciting to continue to show that there is another way to run live events and we know that ‘why’ things are done is as important to our audience as the ‘how’”, he continues. “So, making this pledge to play it forward is something I see as vital right now”.
