Strawberries & Creem , which boasts one of the youngest festival organiser teams in the UK , is hitting its stride with a 10,000-strong visitor count and a line-up including autotune god T-Pain and acclaimed DJ ShyFX . The Haggis Farm , near Cambridge , based event is curated by the youngest festival team in the UK , with an average age of just 24 .
Of these , only two members of staff are full time , the rest are juggling full-time jobs , or are still at University .
Despite their youthful facade , the team have previously secured decidedly high-calibre talent at previous events , including Wiley , Skepta , J Hus and Kano .
Co-founder Louise Young tells Access that the festival is continuing to meet its MO of
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celebrating the future , while championing heritage .
“ We aim to align the content and campaigns with our S & C mantra and make sure it is authentic as possible for our audience .
“ Being the same age as our audience , we know how we want to be spoken to , and we work with brands to come up with content and experiences that will resonate with our customers .”
As such , choosing who to work with has proved a big challenge . “ For the music festivals especially we are one big family who love what we do and care about it more than anything else .
“ It takes a lot of trust for someone , whether a supplier , volunteer or a crew member , to become part of that family .
“ Luckily I ’ ve been able to retain a strong core team of suppliers
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Below : 2017 ’ s event |
“ We are one big family who love what we do ” – Co-founder Louise Young
and crew , but I ’ ve always had to learn when someone or a company doesn ’ t quite fit with the festival . There are a lot of amazing individuals and suppliers out there but it doesn ’ t mean that they are all 100 % suitable for the festival .”
This year , Young engaged in more delegation and streamlining on site with a shift in crew and suppliers .
“ I ’ ve changed sites every year for four years , so it ’ s amazing to stay on the same site for two years running .
“ It gives me a chance to perfect and refine the brand as well as improve efficiencies behind the scenes . We are already thinking of new ideas for engaging and creative content for next year but don ’ t want to run before we can walk .”
Frustrations can abound in the festival game , and Young has learnt the importance of attention to detail . “ Communication and hard work are vital . The festival doesn ’ t happen overnight , it takes a lot of planning and intricate detail that
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