Christopher BarrettEvent management software provider Crescat has launched Crescat GO; a grassroots grant scheme in partnership with industry organisations Music Venue Trust (MVT) and Association of Independent Festivals (AIF).
Crescat said the new scheme is designed to provide grassroots event organisers, venues and festivals, and new live event start-ups, that are facing demonstrable financial barriers, discounted access to its event management software.
The software provider claimed its systems are designed to help music venues, festivals, event organisers, theatres and event spaces streamline their operations and improve efficiency, and that it systems offer significant benefits at a time of increasing costs and operational pressures.
The scheme is open to applications from organisations across Europe. Crescat said each application will be independently assessed against standardised eligibility criteria to ensure each applicant is treated fairly: “Each successful applicant will receive access to Crescat’s premium, industry-trusted software at a price point tailored for grassroots organisations with limited budgets.”
AIF CEO John Rostron said, “The Crescat GO scheme is another example of the careful attention they pay to UK independent festivals and aligns very closely with our core principles and in particular, our Fallow Festival Fund, which we launched at our Festival Congress in February, as a way of supporting independent festivals forced to take a fallow year”.
Having overseen the final, 60th anniversary, edition of Towersey Festival (cap. 5,000) at Buckinghamshire’s Claydon Estate, Mary Hodson and Joe Heap are leading a team overseeing the inaugural Found Festival on 22-24 August. The new 2,000-capacity event will be focused on “musical and cultural discovery, connection and inspiration”.
Hodson said that working with Crescat on Found has proved beneficial: “We at Found knew we wanted to implement a production system from the inception of the festival and not have to retrofit one later down the line, but we had budget constraints as a new festival starting up. Crescat were very supportive in providing us a solution that suited our needs”.