Decolonise Fest, an annual celebration of music, workshops, and art created by and for punks of colour, has been a key component of London's DIY punk scene since 2017. Now the team behind the acclaimed festival, which was created by Big Joanie guitarist and writer Stephanie Phillips and advocates for emerging artists of colour, has launched a fundraising drive in order to stage their 2024 weekender.
In a statment on social media the organisers say:
"Decolonise Fest needs your help.
The landscape has changed significantly since we last ran the festival in 2022. Venues closing down, inflation going up, the challenge of being DIY going nowhere.
While we have been fortunate to receive funding from the PRS Foundation to fund our On Tour series of shows, the main Fest is a different beast and a recent slew of unexpected expenses have put our plans for this year in serious jeopardy.
We pride ourselves on being an independent and progressive festival run by POC volunteers, who give hours of their free time to platform artists of colour and give POC fans of alternative music a place to celebrate themselves. we won’t take money from anyone who will compromise the values of the festival we love so much. so we’re coming to you, the people, to ask for a radical show of community.
Currently, we need to raise £4500 by the end of June to run a festival in September 2024. yes, that’s a tall order but together, we’re taller."
You can find out more about the fundraiser and donate on the event's website, and on their Instagram page.
This year's Decolonise Fest is pencilled in for September 11-13 at Signature Brew Haggerston in East London.
