UK artists, festivals and industry professionals have signed a new pledge to improve safety for women at live music events.

Emily Eavis/Glastonbury Festival, The Eden Project, Strawberries & Creem, Dice and DJ Clara Amfo, as well as artists Rudimental, Paloma Faith, Anne-Marie, Mabel and Beverley Knight, are among the signatories to an open letter launching Safe Spaces Now, created by UN Women UK to push for a safe and inclusive concert environment for both genders post-pandemic.

As part of the initiative, UN Women UK has drawn up more than 150 solutions for ‘safe spaces’ for concerts, nightlife and festivals, including redesigning venues, addressing behaviour within them, inclusion within staff teams, and training to recognise potential abuse and respond appropriately.

The first Safe Spaces Now pilot event will be Strawberries & Creem festival from 18 to 19 September, with organisers promising festivalgoers a “safety-focused strategy in close collaboration with UN Women UK” at the Cambridge event.

Claire Barnett, executive director of UN Women UK, part of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, says: “As live events return following the Covid pandemic, women and marginalised people everywhere are not only thinking about staying safe from the virus – they want to be able to enjoy their right to music, arts and culture without constant fears of violence and harassment.

“We have a unique opportunity as we return from lockdown to reconsider the way we construct and use our public spaces”

“We have a unique opportunity as we return from lockdown to reconsider the way we construct and use our public spaces to be safer for the long term. UN Women UK is pleased to partner with Strawberries & Creem on this first Safe Spaces Now live event, and we hope many more representatives from the music industry will follow suit and commit to helping us build a more equitable future.”

According to a 2018 YouGov poll, over 40% of women under 40 have experienced some kind of unwanted sexual behaviour at a British music festival.

“We’re passionate about ensuring our events are welcoming, inclusive and safe spaces for people to enjoy music together. Festivals should offer joy and hope to everyone, and they are absolutely no place for harassment or abuse of any form,” says Chris Jammer, co-founder of Strawberries & Creem.

“Equality and diversity are values close to our hearts, and we’re proud to have a gender-balanced line-up this year, as well as to be working with UN Women UK on this crucial initiative. We hope that together, we can set a blueprint for what safe spaces should look like for festivals moving forward – for all of our audience, as well as our artists and staff.”

Festivals, events, promoters, venues and other live music organisations are invited to sign the pledge and register their support for the Safe Spaces Now initiative, after which UN Women UK will follow up to discuss your commitments.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

London-based promoter Senbla has acquired its first greenfield festivals, snapping up boutique UK events Strawberries & Creem and The Cambridge Club.

Senbla – itself acquired by Sony Music last year – says the deal will allow S&C Productions, the company behind the festivals, to expand their offering, with both events expanding to two days, with larger production and capacities of up to 20,000 apiece in 2021.

Founded in 2014, Cambridge’s Strawberries & Creem has grown from a small club event to a 10,000-capacity greenfield festival, having hosted performances by the likes of Skepta, Nelly, Kano, J Hus, T-Pain, Shaggy, Stefflon Don and Ms Dynamite.

The Cambridge Club launched in 2017, with past performers including Sister Sledge, Gabriella and Craig Charles.

Senbla CEO Ollie Rosenblatt comments: “We’ve been looking to move into the festival space for some time now, and this young team, full of positive energy, have created two unique events that have the potential to have a seismic impact on the UK scene.

“Strawberries & Creem should be the biggest multi-genre festival in the country, celebrating an array of brilliant and ground-breaking artists alongside legendary acts across hip hop, rap, dancehall, Afrobeats and electronic dance music, while The Cambridge Club will have a totally unique entertainment offering across music, comedy, theatre, technology, food and drink for all ages, taking its inspiration from the heritage of the great city in which it is located.

“We have reached the point where our festivals deserve to be standalone, weekend events”

“I truly believe these are two of the most exciting properties in the marketplace, and both will be major events in the festival calendar.”

The festivals will continue to be led by William Young (managing director), Chris Jammer (brand and partnerships), Preye Crooks (music and talent), Sam Mellor (marketing and communications), Frazer Robinson (event promotions) and Louise Young (finance and operations).

“We’ve been growing our festivals year on year since we started and, after laying the foundations and building two strong brands, we have reached the point where they deserve to be standalone, weekend events, with expanded capacities, upgraded production and improved experiential offerings,” explains Young.

“With the backing of Senbla and Sony, we’re confident that we can take all of these key elements to the next level, as well as enhancing our ability to compete for world-class artist bookings. We want both Strawberries & Creem and The Cambridge Club to be the leading festivals of their kind in the UK, and this is the best possible next step to achieving that vision.”

Past Senbla events include concerts by Burt Bacharach, Diana Ross, Marc Almond, Michael Bublé, Ennio Morricone and Quincy Jones, and screenings with live orchestra of Love Actually, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Beauty and the Beast and Joker.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Welcome to the latest edition of Trailblazers – IQ’s regular series of Q&As with the inspirational figures forging their own paths in the global concert business.

From people working in challenging conditions or markets to those simply bringing a fresh perspective to the music world, Trailblazers aims to spotlight unique individuals from all walks of life who are making a mark in one of the world’s most competitive industries. (Read the last Trailblazer interview, with Kingdom Collective’s Nick Griffiths, here.)

This week, Trailblazers holds its second joint interview, with Chris Jammer and Louise Young of Cambridge-based, independent music festival Strawberries and Creem.

Founded by a team of five friends in 2014, Strawberries and Creem started out as an 800-capacity summer garden party. Now in its fifth year, the event has grown to accommodate 15,000 festivalgoers annually to its home on the outskirts of Cambridge, UK.

The festival has welcomed the likes of Skepta, Nelly, Wiley, Octavian, T-Pain, Shaggy and Shy FX over the years. Recognised for its high levels of diversity, Strawberries and Creem received a highly commended accolade for inclusivity in Festicket’s 2018 awards.

Strawberries and Creem returns this year on Saturday 15 June for its largest event to date, with performances from Stefflon Don, Ms Dynamite and Sean Kingston, among others.

IQ talks to festival co-founder Jammer and head of operations Young about Strawberry and Creem’s journey from a “party in a field” to a legitimate music festival, future ambitions and the satisfaction of putting on a successful event.

How did you get your starts in the industry?
Jammer: I stumbled across the industry if I’m perfectly honest. I was studying land economy at university with the intention of working in finance. My first real experience in the industry came as a club promoter for local club nights in Cambridge.

This is where I met [fellow co-founders] Will, Frazer, Sam and Preye. As a group of mates we were just putting on events for the fun of it and not really following any rule book. We just did what we saw fit and wanted to do at the time.

Young: Chris stole my line! I was working in finance when I was looking for something that would be more creative and more active. I’ve always been very organised and a bit of a control freak, so when the boys had the idea to start the festival they needed someone to bring it all together and I was in the perfect position to do so.

Can you tell me about your current roles?
Jammer: My current role is head of brand and business development. I assist on the partnership deals we do too. There is a lot of crossover within the business as you would expect with a small team.

My main focuses are developing the brand and working out new revenue streams to keep us moving forward into new spaces. We don’t just want to be a music festival. Strawberries & Creem and [fellow Cambridge-based festival] The Cambridge Club are bigger than that. I have input on both the site content side of things, along with what we put out on social media and our marketing as well.

Young: I do all things operations and event management. Day to day, I’ll be doing anything finance-related to security planning to artist liaison. It’s extremely varied and as Chris says there is a lot of crossover, we all support each other to make sure that we achieve what we set out to achieve. Although I’m not sure you’d catch the boys in a police intelligence meeting or talking about the medical provisions – that fortunately is where we all play to our strengths!

“We’d love to get to the point where we have such a strong brand that people will buy a ticket to the festival just because they want to be there, not only based on the line-up”

Who, or what, have been the biggest influences on your career so far?
Jammer: The likes of P Diddy and Dr Dre who have built empires out of doing something they love have really influenced me and my career. I love that they both didn’t stop with making music and have branched out into different industries, and I want our brands to be able to do that in the future too.

Young: For me, it’s generally other festivals and events. We’d love to get to the point where we have such a strong brand that people will buy a ticket to the festival just because they want to be there and they trust our reputation thanks to past experiences, not only based on the line-up.

What is the most rewarding aspect of your job?
Jammer: For me the most rewarding aspect of this job is the clean up and debrief week after the festival – knowing what we have just pulled off. Working all year primarily for one event is often scary and there is a lot of pressure on having a successful day. That feeling of knowing you have achieved what you set out to do 12 months prior is priceless.

Young: I don’t often get much spare time in the months surrounding the festivals, they become quite a blur. But I do try and stand at the back of the stage for a few songs and just watch people’s faces in the crowd. The joy on everyone’s faces is just amazing and reminds me of the whole reason why we do the festivals – to create that feeling, that happiness for all of our crowd.

And the most challenging?
Jammer: The November/December period is always hard for me as it’s so far away from the next festival and the buzz of summer has worn off. It’s really hard to keep motivated at that time of year for me personally. Hopefully this will change his year as we branch out a bit more and have other projects to work on!

Young: It’s the responsibility. We strive to get as many people to the festival as possible, we’ve grown massively year on year but with that comes the increased responsibility and stress. My job is to make sure everyone has an amazing but also a safe time. You hear some horror stories about festivals but I strive each year to make sure I put everything in place so nothing like that happens in our field.

“I don’t like that artists or events are sometimes put in a box, pigeonholed into certain genres and vibes”

What achievements would you say you were most proud of?
Jammer: I think I’m most proud of being in a position as a company to have a number full time employees. In the early years when myself and Lou were working full time on this we couldn’t afford to pay ourselves enough to live comfortably. Being able to support two more members of full time staff now is a great feeling to have.

Young: I’d definitely agree with Chris, we have grown from a party in a field to an official company, which now means people can earn a living doing what they love doing. I’m also extremely proud of the fact we have all remained the best of friends. It’s extremely challenging and stressful at times, and a few choice words are often exchanged, but we all just get on so well and still love each other at the end of the day!

What, if anything, do you think the music industry could do better?
Jammer: I’d love to see a real push for more diversity across the board and more of a blurring of the lines. I don’t like that artists or events are sometimes put in a box, pigeonholed into certain genres and vibes.

Previously we’ve been labelled a ‘grime’ or an ‘urban’ festival because we’ve had grime MCs at the top of the bill. But we celebrate a wide range of genres from D&B to house to dancehall. Often artists or events are labelled incorrectly which I don’t think is necessary – just enjoy the music for what it is!

Young: Something that we’ve tried to do this year, get more female artists on the line-up. There is still a massive divide between female and male artists, and across other industries too. I’ve also found that lots of the key roles within festival management are male-led, but I always try and work with female contractors where possible and encourage more to get into the industry.

What advice would you give to someone hoping to make it in live music/entertainment?
Jammer: Be brave and be bold. I think we have been very ambitious in what we have set out to do. It has of course been important to think carefully about what we are doing and not to be too bullish without planning, but dreaming big has certainly helped to get us to where we are today.

Young: Know what your goal is and stick to it. There is so much competition and people will often try and lead you down certain paths but stay true to who you are and focus on what you want to achieve.

If you’d like to take part in a future Trailblazers interview, or nominate someone else for inclusion, email IQ’s news editor, Jon Chapple, on [email protected], or Anna Grace on [email protected].