Why grassroots could have saved ‘The Grass is Greener’
The Grass is Gone: the Canberra leg of TGIG has been cancelled.
Opinion: Mustard Flats Editor
Updated: response from The Grass Is Greener Representative.
Do you think a lack of local talent on the line up in any way affected the slow ticket sales and promotion of the festival at a grassroots local level?
“Perhaps
However, we always love to give an opportunity to local talent, we believe in it and have always made that a priority for us.”
We brought this up with organisers months ago when no Canberra acts featured anywhere on the lineup.
It wasn’t until headline acts started to cancel 1 week ago, that organisers turned to homegrown talent to plump up the roster. Festivals are about community and you can’t fake that, neglecting to embrace and grow through the grassroots might have played a small part in its demise.
“While the shows were selling slower than predicted, we still had full intention of seeing them through”
In stark contrast we saw Stonefest last weekend stack the lineup with local and first time festival acts, smaller scale but crowds turned up. Spilt Milk sold out nationally in May, and included city specific acts. Over 10 Canberra acts inc. Miroji, Sesame Girl, Shaka J, Brittany De Marco, YNG Martyr & Genesis Owusu. Showing a clear intent to support the city that built Spilt Milk & give the fans what they want.
No longer can big promoters fly into a city and expect to sell out festivals without understanding the local scene. Punters have been burnt too many times through covid (tho no fault of festivals) but now headline acts, NFT gimmicks and cookie cutter models might not cut it anymore.
A TGIG representative responding to Mustard Flats said using an NFT ticketing options was a risk.
“The NFT space is a niche market that we believed we could tap into. Was it a risk? Yes, but one we have been willing to make. ”
TGIG organisers Handpicked Group are an independently-owned events company who had the best intention but in their first foray into Canberra, in our opinion failed to tap into the huge potential of our grassroots music scene, instead leaning heavily on paid social media promotion.
Why not harness an already strong community of local music fans by putting up some world class talent that actually lives here and in turn using their networks to build hype. They know the local crowd, have earned their place and people want to see it. It was just lazy.
We asked TGIG representatives; do you think a lack of local talent on the line up in any way affected the slow ticket sales and promotion of the festival at a grassroots local level?
“Perhaps, however, we always love to give an opportunity to local talent, we believe in it and have always made that a priority for us.”
We do feel for organisers who have been through a horror few years, covid, wild weather and economic pressures both on suppliers and fans.
The importance of local acts may have been overlooked, while being a small issue it might just be a game changer in a post covid festival world.
(EDIT) TGIG have been very open but a decision on refunds still yet to be made.
“We believe in honesty and ethical practice, we also believe in sharing the circumstances truthfully with you”
But things could get complicated in other cities where the festival hobbles on without a long list of expected headline acts.
We all know the grass is always greener but sometimes it’s best to go local.
Sub to our Patreon for early release stories
Love Mustard Flats
Full response from The Grass Is Greener Representative
Will TGIG or Handpicked group consider returning to CBR one day for an event?
TGIG prides itself on bringing an event that not only we are proud of but also one that delivers an incredible experience. Although the future of coming back to Canberra is largely unknown at this stage, Handpicked Group will endeavour to return and deliver their vision.
What have you learnt about festivals in a post covid world in terms of the current market, would you adapt in the future to smaller scale events?
We are in a constant state of learning post the pandemic, I think we all are and need to remember these are unchartered waters. Noone in the history of music has put on events post a global pandemic, everyone has had new difficulties and we are always trying to learn.
Do you think a lack of local talent on the line up in any way affected the slow ticket sales and promotion of the festival at a grassroots local level?
Perhaps, however, we always love to give an opportunity to local talent, we believe in it and have always made that a priority for us.
Do you believe the NFT aspect of the festival scared people off?
The NFT space is a niche market that we believed we could tap into. Was it a risk? Yes, but one we have been willing to make.
