AUDIO FARM'S 10TH BIRTHDAY IS HERE!
It’s been 10 years since Audio Farm opened the gates to a journey that has taken us on an explosive ride of colour and sound that’s took in some of the finest DJ’s, artists and bands the world has to offer in the ever-expanding adventure.
So, it only seemed right that Audio Farm came back to Manchester to recreate the excitement and electricity of that Thursday in January 2009, where the first needle dropped onto the Audio Farm turntables, with music blasting through the night in the Northern Quarters Moho Live, right through to the after parties in the infamous basement of 148 Wellington Road, Withington.
The Audio Farm journey has created Free Forest Parties and Secret Venues to Club Takeovers, Holistic Events and 6 Transformative Festivals with a mindset for ever-changing, innovative and evolving gatherings that bring beautiful people together to enjoy eclectic musical soundscapes and immersive delights from all corners of the planet.
So, the Audio Farm Family ask everyone who has been part of the journey along the way to be part of an extra special, unique and magical Audio Farm 10th Birthday celebration that will showcase the best elements of the story so far...
////// WHAT'S GOING ON? \\\\\\
****** HOME OF THE DRUM (LIVE) ******
A place to enjoy some Live Funk, Ska, Gypsy Folk, Tribal and Electronic Bands, with staged Theatrical Circus Shows. Later join in on the Jam until 4am, (bring that instrument!).
8:30pm - The Beatnik Collective
9:15pm - Circus Show
9:45pm - Galivantes
10:30pm - Circus Show
11pm - Mama Moonshine
11:45pm - Circus Show
12:15am - Barry Gammon & the Midday Incident
1am - Circus Show
1:30am - Age of Glass
2:30am - Jam with Rasta Drummers & The Beatnik Collective
(Bring your instrument)
****** BASEMENT ******
>>>>> 10pm until 4am - Audio Farmers <<<<<
The Audio Farmers will be curating the nights music in a basement (home from home), bringing together a selection of forwarding thinking and classic House and Techno tracks that have made people move on the dance floor over the last 10 years.
****** PRE EVENT GONG BATH / SOUND JOURNEY INFO ******
>>>>> 7:15pm until 8:15pm <<<<<<
Get in the zone with a sound journey. Paul is a certified gong master and will provide a variety of rejuvenating sounds, intuitively played to create the soundtrack for your own personal "journey" of inner space. This is more than a “performance” and is more of a meditational experience. Through the use of various holistic instruments such as gongs, Himalayan singing bowls, drum, rattles, and chimes, a cocoon of living tones will provide holistic healing for the many layers of your being, including the physical, emotional, energetic and spiritual bodies we all possess. These sacred tones are catalysts for deep meditative states, facilitating the potential for lucid visions, dematerialisation, a sense of levitation or astral projection. When we are in these states, our bodies are extremely relaxed, enabling the body’s natural healing processes to take place efficiently, with great effect.
(BRING WARM CLOTHES, BLANKET AND MAT IF POSSIBLE AS WILL BE SITTING OR LYING DOWN.)
Help secure the future of Audio Farm Festival
“Audio Farm Festival 2018 Official Thank You”
It’s hard to describe Audio Farm Festival 2018, but if we could say one word it would be… Magic! The Audio Farm energy and the tribe that make it happen or attend seems to grow year on year. We hope this is not the last! As a collective tribe, we believe we have created something very special and unique in an industry that is being consumed by the corporations. Audio Farm is the essence of the meaning ‘Roots Festival’. A platform that plants positive seeds of change. A safe space for all ages. A wonderland for the collective consciousness to expand. A home that we have long forgotten, a home where we are free from fear and judgment, a home where we share and support one another, a home which our ancestors knew well. This year the site worked beautifully with two separate energies either side of the walled garden. The chilled and relaxed Healing Space, The Tent of Symmetry, Kids Area and The Nest in one side, and the high energy sounds of The Sundance, The Trip and The Home of the Drum on the other. The music, workshops, performers and production were unworldly. The energy was perfect at every stage from sunrise until the late hours, from the Sunrise Yoga at 7am to the epic fire shows after 1am. In between, the 16 hours a day of varied music from all over our blue marble was just so incredible. So thank you to the crowd, the crew, the performers, the music artists, the music, the healers, the children and everyone who contributed with time or buying a ticket. Thank you deeply. Without you guys Audio Farm events are impossible and if this is our last event, then we have bowed out on a truly exceptional note.
“The crowd fundraiser objective”
The aim of this crowd-funder is to secure the survival of Audio Farm Festival. If we reach this target we will be happy to announce that Audio Farm Festival or Audio Farm Festival will return in 2020 and for many years afterwards. This funding will secure the long-term future of Audio farm Festival.
“Audio Farms background”
Over the past decade, Audio Farm has grown organically through grassroots. No sponsors. No corporate buyouts. No financial backing. All profits (when available) going to charity. In the current festival market, this is very rare, as corporations swallow more festivals year on year with mass buyouts. Audio Farm stands firm against these corporations and has done since our first event 2009 and our first festival in 2013.
“How Audio Farm Festival has grown in numbers and event costings”
Audio Farm started at Workhouse in 2013 with 400 people, an event that cost us £8000 to host. From there, we moved to Hendre Hall with a 700 capacity event that costs £20,000. To the monster of Audio Farm Festival 2017 with over 2800 people, with the event costing £260,000. Audio Farm Festival 2018 housed over 1800 people with a cost of £150,000 to run.
“What is the current debt of Audio Farm / Audio Farm Festival Ltd?”
To grow a festival like Audio Farm Festival 2017 and Audio Farm Festival 2018 takes time, and along the way, debt has been accumulated, like any start-up business/fundraiser event company. The debt carried over from One Tribe 2017 stood at £38,000, and this year’s event is estimated to be around £20,000, which equals £58,000. All going well in 2020 our aim would be to break even, and in 2021 significant profits to charity are projected.
“Why are we in this situation? How do we stop this from happening in the future?”
A few mistakes in 2017 were admittedly made in which we learnt upon for Audio Farm Festival 2018, and with slight adjustments, we believe we can crack the model for a profitable event (for charity) in 2020. One of the main aspects that will change in 2020 is tightening up on volunteers and guest list. We would be in a completely different situation if people who had received tickets to either volunteer or perform hadn’t have let us down by not fulfilling their shifts. In 2018, around 75 volunteers never turned up at all or completed half a shift. Leaving the bar, a core income generator, totally strained, and we were therefore unable to serve as much alcohol as we estimated we would. The other issue lies with people who either break in or blag their way in. We all understand that this happens all over the Festival industry, but we can’t afford this to happen at our expense. If all of these people paid and made the event fair, we would be in a positive financial situation. We estimate around 500 people have either broken in or not completed their volunteer shifts during our past 2 events. This would have been an extra £55,000 income, and therefore minimal debt would have incurred. We also believe that the ticket prices for the show, lineup, creative installations/decor, healing & holistics, performers and extra entertainment is underpriced. This is due to trying to keep ticket prices competitive in an industry of festivals where ticket prices are propped up by sponsors, or the selling of environmentally unconscious products. One example of this is that Audio Farm refuses to sell bottled water, which is a huge income for many events in the UK, but also a huge detriment to Mother Earth.
“Are profits made at present?”
Simply, no. We believe the perception is that “Wow, Audio Farm has loads of people here, they must be making lots of money”. This is wrong. From the 1800 people on site in 2018, only 800 paid for a ticket. This equates to just over £80,000 in ticket sale revenue, with a further £10,000 income coming from food traders and stalls, and £10,000 from car parking, campers and other extras. This equates to £100,000. Leaving £50,000 to cover.
“Where does the rest of the £50,000 come to cover the 2018 costs?”
The bar. This year the bar profited around £30,000. Leaving £20,000 debt to cover costs for our 2018 event alone. The bar under profited mainly due to volunteers not attending shifts and causing the queues to be bigger.
“What does the £20,000 fundraiser goal cover”
Audio Farm has hit a financial level where we have lent all we can, and the £20,000 ensures we cover the costs of the 2018 event to ensure Audio Farm survives and our 2020 festival will happen. The £20,000 ensures a small wage for our incredible crew who return year after year, and the production crews who currently offer services at a much reduced rate. As without them, Audio Farm would cease to exist.
“Who and how much are the Audio Farm crew paid in wages”
For Audio Farm Festival 2018, the 6 months prep work, 2 week build, pack down and the live days have been run by a crew over 150 volunteers or on £30 or £50 a day, or 3 days work for a free ticket. The total combined hours accumulate to 1000s of hours. The £30-50 a day is way, way below minimum wage as some days will be 14-hour shifts for £50. Luckily we have a crew that will run and prep the festival for this wage. A bunch of legends that we must look after.
“How long have Audio Farm crew been getting paid for? Have they ever gained financially?”
Since putting on our first event in 2009 in Manchester and our first festival in 2013 no wages or money has been paid to the crew until minimal wages have started to be introduced in 2017. Countless hours of unpaid work went into One Tribe 2017, putting the core team under a lot of personal financial pressure and debt, on top of the overall debt of the festival. For example, all core directors were on site for 5 weeks in 2017 and not one person got a penny. In 2018 the core directors, some build crew and some live crew have been paid £30-50 a day for 12-14 hours a day shifts.
“Where do Green Paw Projects donations and £25 guest tickets go to?”
Even though there have been zero profits recorded on the audited accounts since Audio Farm officially started trade under Audio Farm Festival LTD in early 2017 as a charity fundraiser, Audio Farm events have still donated over £15,000 to Green Paw Project in past 3 years. This has been generated from people who pay a £25 donation for guest list tickets, donations via the website, donations at the festival and profits for individual events like Winter Gathering 2017 and Charity Fundraisers.
“How can you help?”
PLEASE HELP US REACH OUR TARGET! PLEASE BE HONEST, AS YOU ARE ONLY CHEATING YOURSELF, THE CHARITY AND YOUR OWN KARMA!
1 – Anyone who blagged their way in, never turned up for a shift or failed to perform as agreed please donate £100 minimum on here. You can remain anonymous and let organisers know by emailing info@onetribefestival.org that you have paid. We do have a list of blaggers and non-attended volunteers, and if you do not donate by 1st October you will be named and shamed publicly on our Facebook Group, and be banned from future Audio Farm events.
2 – Anyone who wants to support who can afford to donate, please donate. Even if you bought a ticket we need to pull together as a tribe.
3 – Anyone who came for free (eg DJs, crew, guests etc) if you can afford to donate, please donate.
“What’s next for Audio Farm”
Once we have reached our target, Audio Farm Festival 2018 can be fully paid off. This will still leave a deficit of £38,000 (from Audio Farm Festival 2017). This debt is covered by the core crews life savings but does not have to be paid back immediately, and therefore can be paid back from future events. 2019 will be a fallow year, but with this £20,000 target covered, 2020 Audio Farm Festival plan can commence. We will take a year to breathe and ensure a way of making the event self sustainably profitable. Our goal by 2022 is to make £50,000 a year for charity and then year on year.
To summarise we’re asking anyone who volunteered but didn’t show up for a shift, anyone who sneaked into the festival, and anyone who acquired a free ticket for whichever reason to please donate the ticket price to us. Plus anyone else who values Audio Farm and its crew to donate and help us secure the festival’s future.
PLEASE LET’S ALL PULL TOGETHER AS ONE TRIBE AND ENSURE THE FUTURE OF AUDIO FARM FESTIVAL.
ONE LOVE, ONE TRIBE XXX
AUDIO FARM RESIDENTS 004: ASHER
Fellow Sauce resident (alongside previous resident selector, Bradford Dave), Asher has been a staple underground wall-crawler and DJ for over a decade in the city of Manchester’s sprawling music community, regularly taking to the turntables in venues like The White Hotel and beyond.
Asher has been a huge component in mapping out the sounds of our festival since 2013 as well as our Dug Out stage at the acclaimed Festival Number 6.
This mix has Asher taking you through rugged, bumping rhythms and melodic house sounds all the way to high-end electro-tinged techno.
Enjoy x
AUDIO FARM FESTIVAL RESIDENTS 003: BRADFORD DAVE
Our third in this series of selectors welcomes Bradford Dave to the platform. A permanent fixture at Audio Farm festival since 2013, Dave can be found plying his trade at his Manchester throwdown, 'Sauce' alongside, co-pilot, Asher. You can catch Bradford Dave at this year's Audio Farm festival as part of the Human Shield party for our departed friend, Pete Mangalore.
For those that don’t know who Peter was and why we’re celebrating his life this year, can you give us a little story about him at the festival?
“I remember the first Audio Farm I played at, at the Work House and I was DJing on Friday night. The needles on the decks were fucked and the first 5 or 6 records I played skipped. The room was pretty busy when I started, but soon emptied with the ensuing disaster! To make matters worse, a pissed up lad was continually pestering me to let him have a go, I later found out this was Christian Wood (Il Bosco) of Red Laser fame, who’d been playing earlier. So while the records were skipping and the harassing became more persistent, I asked Pete Mangalore to help out - maybe find someone with better needles, or something, but he wouldn’t because he said it was too funny. He just stood and laughed at me! Typical Peter”.
So, you’ve been with us from the start. What makes you keep coming back?
“Why do I keep coming back? Because I keep getting asked to come back, so why wouldn’t I? It’s a great weekend and it’s testament to you lot for all the hard work you put in that it keeps getting better and better. When I saw the Forest Stage last year, I couldn’t believe how good it looked and I’m really looking forward to finding out what’s in store this year”.
You can catch Dave alongside Asher this coming weekend, instore at Eastern Bloc.
For more info, head here
Interview with Carl Craig
Carl Craig Interview
Carl Craig has long been on the Audio Farm radar. On Sunday 2nd September 2018, Carl Craig will finally play on Audio Farm Festivals Sundance Stage. What a Sunday treat. There is now just under 4 weeks to go until the gates on open 30th Aug 2018 at the stunning Hopton Court. Tickets are running low and looking like a sell out event.
https://www.skiddle.com/news/all/Carl-Craig-interview-Life-In-A-Northern-Town/38571/
WHAT IS AUDIO FARM FESTIVAL 2018 ALL ABOUT?
Audio Farm Festival reopens the gates in 2018 under the original alias, keeping to its evolving nomadic roots at a new site, whilst Audio Farm Festival takes a fallow year.
2017 saw Audio Farm Festival blossom like a magical flower from its Audio Farm tree, from a seed that was planted at the first festival in 2013. So from the crew that brought you One Tribe, expect more of the same magic, music, people, energy, love, laughter and beauty, but in a more intimate space at Audio Farm Festival 2018.
The journey continues in a new and exciting venue at Shropshire’s Hopton Court. Nestled in the heart of breathtaking borderland countryside, the watercolour beauty of this Georgian country estate has uniquely stunning parklands, walled gardens, ponds and a beautiful out buildings, where Audio Farm will transform the site into a microcosm of light, sights, sounds and new experiences, etched together into a mesmeric harmony lasting over 4 days.
Audio Farm Festivals innovative stages play host to a wealth of handpicked bands, artists and DJ’s, playing a glittering array of music from all corners of our known universe. From sun kissed House beats on the Sundance Stage and clinical Techno pulses in Home of the Drum, to sporadic breaks and rattling subs in the Depths of Bass, and the psychedelic beats of The Trip. The Mandala Stage and The Nest is a galaxy of eclectic bands, world musicians, vocal acrobats and solo sirens that will take you to places both familiar and new, all interwoven with a rich tapestry of drumming collectives, circus performers and fire dancers, colouring the day and illuminating the night.
The Festival is a wealth of experiences, stimulating all the human senses and opening the portals to a world of possibilities in an explosion of imagination. A safe space to expand skill sets with progressive workshops and talks, where talented and knowledgeable healers offer alternative treatments to rejuvenate the mind, body, and soul through holistic disciplines, massage, guided meditation, gong baths, yoga and shamanic journeys.
Independent throughout, Audio Farm Festival is proudly a non-profit, non-corporate organism that funds the work of The Green Paw Project with its profits. A charity that resolutely works to save and improve the lives of helpless and vulnerable animals in third world countries.
So join the tribe again at Audio Farm Festival this summer and create indelible memories where footprints fade.
AUDIO FARM FESTIVAL 2018 - FULL LINE UP
Audio Farm Festival 2018 full line-up. Looking mega!
Have a lovely week full of love, laughter and music 
ARTICLE BY FESTIVAL-TRAVELLER
Wonderful article about Audio Farm Festival 2018. Thanks Milly Day at Festival-traveller.
Only 7 weeks to go. Have you got your tickets yet?
One Love, One Tribe
AUDIO FARM FESTIVAL 2018 ANNOUNCEMENT - INTRODUCING.... SURGEON
Less than a week after the announcement of Carl Craig, and after many years of being at the top of our hit list, Audio Farm are over the moon to announce our latest headliner… experimental Techno Don; Surgeon.
Since as far back as 1992 Surgeon has been a stalwart of the tougher, industrial, and darker edges of Techno. From there he has gone on to collaborate and remix a long and glittering list of prolific artists, and has also influenced the new wave of modern day Techno artists.
Surgeon will be joining us instead of Kevin Saunderson, who is sadly now unable to make his performance at Audio Farm Festival.
Audio Farm are super ecstatic to see both Carl Craig and Surgeon debut for us.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS - INTRODUCING... CARL CRAIG
Audio Farm are beyond excited to announce Carl Craig at Audio Farm Festival 2018. A true Detroit innovator whose sound has seamlessly weaved through varying shades of techno, soul, jazz, electro and beyond.
Carl has come in to replace Blawan, who can’t make it unfortunately due to circumstances out of his and our control.
Words simply cannot do justice to Carl’s contribution and relevance to the worldwide Techno scene. It's fair to say we are suitably jubilant to finally have him shake the roots of the Sundance Stage dancefloor.