The Moth Club in Hackney, in London. A venue taking part in Pitchfork London Music Festival. CREDIT: ASSOCIATED PRESS.
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London has seen many independent live music venues close their doors in recent years. Yet while grassroots venues continue to struggle, a different side of the live music scene is growing: multi-venue festivals.
From Corsica Studios recently announcing its closure to long-standing institutions like The Windmill having faced near misses, closures have become more common.
John Rostron, CEO of the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), pointed to the obvious financial pressures behind the crisis — from spiralling operating costs to declining consumer spending.
Sybil Bell, founder and CEO of Independent Venue Week (IVW), echoed this, adding that lifestyle shifts have also played a major role.
She told City News: “People are going out less… It’s not that they’re going elsewhere, sometimes it’s that they’re staying in” – leaving venues without the benefit of the consistent revenue they once had.
The rise of multi-venue festivals
But the picture isn’t all bleak. The AIF’s 2025 Festival Forecast shows that multi-venue festivals are on the rise, with “over 100 multi-venue festivals now running across the UK.”
This trend is particularly visible in London, where events like Pitchfork London, one of London’s most prominent upcoming multi-venue festivals, and Brick Lane Jazz Festival are becoming increasingly popular.
Drawing crowds to a network of venues across multiple days, multi-venue festivals offer the chance for local venues to host a wide-range of events and artists.
At first glance, it seems like a win-win – but do these festivals offer meaningful, lasting support to venues?
Jazz Monroe, a writer for Pitchfork, told City News, “A good multi-venue festival should be good for the whole music ecosystem.”
Running IVW’s own multi-venue event. Sybil Bell has seen this first- hand, with venues involved saying they have used the increased revenue from that week to sustain themselves during quieter periods.
When done right, these festivals bring in new artists, new audiences, and new energy – providing a much-needed financial boost. But is profit alone enough?
Community before profit
Reflecting on her perception of the London music scene over the years, Sybil Bell described how cultural habits have shifted and that we no longer cultivate local music “scenes” in the same way.
Failing to recognise this and focusing on individual profit, this outlook can trap venues into operating in isolation, competing with one another instead of fostering a shared sense of community.
In her view, collaboration between venues is key to lasting survival.
Festival goers at the Wireless Music Festival, in Finsbury Park, London. CREDIT: ASSOCIATED PRESS.
Beyond attracting new visitors, multi-venue festivals have the potential to reignite local music communities and sustain a genuine “scene”. Bringing an opportunity for venues to band together under a common event, from which they can all benefit.
However, the impact of a festival depends on its main intention. When profit is the primary focus, the ability to support independent venues can be limited.
It seems that to truly revive London’s live music landscape, efforts need to go beyond boosting ticket sales – they must help to rebuild the culture of community and experimentation that made these spaces thrive in the first place.
Pitchfork takes this approach through diverse and innovative curation, which Jazz Monroe sees as helping long-running venues to evolve – “when you can see an artist who’d usually play a grimy club in the basement of a salubrious venue like the Roundhouse, it expands our ideas about what both the venue and the artist can be”.
Yet, as he points out, “the idea of taking risks with programming is antithetical to maximising profit.”
Creating opportunities for venues to reach larger and new audiences, the relationship between venues and these festivals seems likely to be a profitable one.
But independent venues face challenges that go well beyond money – and if multi-venue festivals are to offer real support, they’ll need to do the same.
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HeadlineCan multi-venue festivals save London’s live music scene?
Short HeadlineCan multi-venue festivals save London’s live music scene?
StandfirstAs London's live music venues are facing pressures, the rise in multi-venue festivals across the city may be able to offer some vital support.
London has seen many independent live music venues close their doors in recent years. Yet while grassroots venues continue to struggle, a different side of the live music scene is growing: multi-venue festivals.
From Corsica Studios recently announcing its closure to long-standing institutions like The Windmill having faced near misses, closures have become more common.
John Rostron, CEO of the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), pointed to the obvious financial pressures behind the crisis — from spiralling operating costs to declining consumer spending.
Sybil Bell, founder and CEO of Independent Venue Week (IVW), echoed this, adding that lifestyle shifts have also played a major role.
She told City News: “People are going out less… It’s not that they’re going elsewhere, sometimes it’s that they’re staying in” – leaving venues without the benefit of the consistent revenue they once had.
The rise of multi-venue festivals
But the picture isn’t all bleak. The AIF’s 2025 Festival Forecast shows that multi-venue festivals are on the rise, with “over 100 multi-venue festivals now running across the UK.”
This trend is particularly visible in London, where events like Pitchfork London, one of London’s most prominent upcoming multi-venue festivals, and Brick Lane Jazz Festival are becoming increasingly popular.
Drawing crowds to a network of venues across multiple days, multi-venue festivals offer the chance for local venues to host a wide-range of events and artists.
At first glance, it seems like a win-win – but do these festivals offer meaningful, lasting support to venues?
Jazz Monroe, a writer for Pitchfork, told City News, “A good multi-venue festival should be good for the whole music ecosystem.”
Running IVW’s own multi-venue event. Sybil Bell has seen this first- hand, with venues involved saying they have used the increased revenue from that week to sustain themselves during quieter periods.
When done right, these festivals bring in new artists, new audiences, and new energy – providing a much-needed financial boost. But is profit alone enough?
Community before profit
Reflecting on her perception of the London music scene over the years, Sybil Bell described how cultural habits have shifted and that we no longer cultivate local music “scenes” in the same way.
Failing to recognise this and focusing on individual profit, this outlook can trap venues into operating in isolation, competing with one another instead of fostering a shared sense of community.
In her view, collaboration between venues is key to lasting survival.
Festival goers at the Wireless Music Festival, in Finsbury Park, London. CREDIT: ASSOCIATED PRESS.
Beyond attracting new visitors, multi-venue festivals have the potential to reignite local music communities and sustain a genuine “scene”. Bringing an opportunity for venues to band together under a common event, from which they can all benefit.
However, the impact of a festival depends on its main intention. When profit is the primary focus, the ability to support independent venues can be limited.
It seems that to truly revive London’s live music landscape, efforts need to go beyond boosting ticket sales – they must help to rebuild the culture of community and experimentation that made these spaces thrive in the first place.
Pitchfork takes this approach through diverse and innovative curation, which Jazz Monroe sees as helping long-running venues to evolve – “when you can see an artist who’d usually play a grimy club in the basement of a salubrious venue like the Roundhouse, it expands our ideas about what both the venue and the artist can be”.
Yet, as he points out, “the idea of taking risks with programming is antithetical to maximising profit.”
Creating opportunities for venues to reach larger and new audiences, the relationship between venues and these festivals seems likely to be a profitable one.
But independent venues face challenges that go well beyond money – and if multi-venue festivals are to offer real support, they’ll need to do the same.
