The UK’s Association of Festival Organisers (AFO) will hand over operation to the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) following the retirement of general secretary Steve Heap.

Heap, who will step down at the beginning of April, has been AFO’s general secretary since its formation in 1987. The organisation currently represents 102 festival and event organisers, with events ranging from 500 to 25,000-plus capacity, while AIF represents 101 UK music festivals, ranging from 500 to 80,000-cap.

Together, the trade bodies will have a collective voice representing 202 festival promoters and events organisers across the UK.

“Since founding AFO in 1987, I have devoted a considerable amount of time, effort and love to the grassroots festival industry,” says Heap. “Members and I have worked together to build a stronger, well-recognised and sustainable future. Retiring from this desk now, after 38 years, is a big tug and I will leave all the ‘thank yous’ to my personal letters later.

“For now and the future, I am delighted to be giving the reins to John Rostron and the team at AIF, where I know AFO members will find support, knowledge, campaigning and unity in this world of festivals. AFO members are creative, conscientious, and resilient, and I believe will embrace this change of management with enthusiasm, leading on to a real recovery and strong, successful season in 2024.”

The AFO and AIF have come together many times in the past to fight for the combined interests of their members, with achievements including negotiating a new reduced festival tariff with PRS for Music; negotiating a reduction on VAT for tickets sales to 5% during Covid; lobbying government for financial support, and leading to the contribution of over a billion pounds from the Cultural Recovery Fund to a variety of arts organisations.

“The UK’s festival sector is depleting at a staggering rate in 2024 and, without government intervention, there is no guarantee that pressures will ease”

“Steve is a legend in the festival world and he’ll be greatly missed as he begins his retirement from AFO,” adds AIF CEO John Rostron. “I’m enormously pleased that his departing gesture is to entrust AFO to myself and the team at AIF. We’ll continue to support AFO members in the way they’ve become accustomed but also bring new opportunities and strength by having so many independent festivals together in one place.

“I’m pleased that I’ll still get time with Steve as he offers his wisdom and support to me and the members as he steps back to enjoy more time in the fields, and less time at a desk.”

Meanwhile, Devon’s Spring Classic festival has become the latest UK festival to cancel this year, with organisers citing spiralling costs.

“Spring Classic festival is the 14th UK festival to cancel, postpone or announce their closure entirely in 2024,” notes Rostron. “Again, reasons of soaring costs for a third consecutive year since the pandemic have meant this popular, well run event can no longer go ahead, despite plenty of personal investment from its organisers.

“The UK’s festival sector is depleting at a staggering rate in 2024 and, without government intervention, there is no guarantee that pressures will ease for promoters in years to come. We again urge people to visit fivepercentforfestivals.com, contact their MP and call for a three year VAT reduction on festival tickets to 5% in order to give festivals the economic respite they need to recover.”

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The NEC Birmingham has joined the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) and the Association of Festival Organisers (AFO) as it seeks to explore new opportunities within its events diversification strategy.

The NEC is the UK’s largest exhibition venue, with 18 interconnecting halls in addition to more than 387 acres of hard-standing ground and 59 acres of woodland.

Post-pandemic, the campus has adapted its commercial approach to broaden its festival proposition, staging the 45,000-cap Wireless Festival outdoors with Festival Republic in July last year. It also hosted Slam Dunk Festival in 2014.

“We work closely with many trade bodies across the live music and events industry, contributing to policies, key initiatives and lobbying activity. It is important that we listen to the wants and needs of more event genres as we diversify our offer” says Richard Mann, new business director for the NEC, which also owns ticketing agency The Ticket Factory.

“We are in discussions with festival organisers about events for this year and beyond”

“We’re a large site with big ambitions to bring a greater mix of events to the Midlands. We are in discussions with festival organisers about events for this year and beyond. Our audience database for the NEC and our arenas is comprehensive. The challenge for us is bringing new events to the region which can revitalise the local festival and events landscape.”

AIF CEO John Rostron says the move represents a big addition to the AIF membership.

“Not only does it demonstrate creative thinking from NEC Group, it also points to the value of AIF as a resource to businesses connected to the festival industry, alongside the promoters themselves,” he says. “We look forward to working closely with the NEC, carving new opportunities for both the venue and our festival members, and promoting the interests of the sector more broadly.”

Steve Heap, general secretary of the AFO, adds: “We are delighted that the NEC has joined us. AFO’s credibility has built gradually since we formed in 1987, and we now have more than 150 grassroots festivals, many of whom move sites from year-to-year, that would welcome engagement with the venue. We look forward to working more closely with the NEC as the year progresses and beyond.”

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