Christopher BarrettCambridge-based festival Strawberries & Creem (cap. 10,000) has become the first UK festival to partner with non-fungible token (NFT) platform Serenade to allow consumers to buy tickets through NFTs and unlock music experiences on site.
Owned by Sony Music-backed promoter Senbla, and managed by S&C Productions’ MD William Young, co-founder Preye Crooks and head of partnerships Chris Jammer, Strawberries & Creem will offer NFT collectable trading cards, called The Creem League 2021, that will unlock exclusive experiences at the event.
The cards will go on sale at Serenade.co on 25 August. Serenade founder Max Shand (pictured below), who is interviewed in the latest issue of Access, said the platform was launched with the aim of being an eco-friendly marketplace supplying music-related NFTs for fans to buy, sell, collect or showcase.
The initiative has seen S&C team up with British-Namibian creative director, illustrator and music producer HAM the Illustrator and blockchain specialist Soga World to create a colection of eight limited edition NFT trading cards featuring a series of superhero characters inspired by the headline artists due to perform at the festival at Childerley Orchard from 18-19 September.
Limited to 200 editions each, owners of the NFTs will have access to VIP perks at the festival including backstage access, VIP hospitality, exclusive content, special memorabilia and the “best seats in the house”.
S&C said each edition will be minted on the blockchain, and the series will never be replicated.
Crooks said, “We want to establish ourselves as one of the most progressive festivals in the world, and NFTs give us the opportunity to reach a new audience in a rapidly growing market. Working with Soga World, we are now able to not only offer tickets, but specific experiences within the festival itself, across an exciting new platform. As the first festival in the country to do this, we hope to see this adding another exciting dimension to our offering. HAM The Illustrator has produced some incredible pieces that we’re thrilled to share with our network, and it’s been a joy to bring the project to life.”
