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FloFest was created in 2013 when it was started by Abi and Sara, who had the idea to celebrate their lovely, local park and to get the band-stand being used by some bands again. They organised a bit of a tea tent, a couple of bands, some family crafts and the Oxford Playhouse joined in at the last minute also. The day was a lovely, gentle success so they thought they'd do it again the next year......
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The next year was 2014 and the 80th anniversary of the estate being built so they thought they'd make it all a bit bigger, to include more of the local history and more of the local community groups. No one was really prepared for how big it ended up being or how successful it was, or how many people came.
The day was funded, like the first year, by a couple of grants they'd secured and by money from their own pockets.
Since then, Alan has joined the ranks as one of the main trio who organises the entire day.
We start work on organising the festival in November of the year before & things trundle along quite nicely until about April when it all gets a little insane.
Dave and Jon work full out on securing the bands for FloFest - and now also GloFest , and all that goes along with coordinating & running a full program on a large music stage. This is an awesome feat and the results blow us away each year.
DJ James Ussher lends his genius to the lazer and DJ finale of GloFest - this has to be seen to be believed.
Viv and Rob coordinate and direct the ever successful smaller Variety stage - bringing together a true local flavour.
Keith & Alice get the Woofers sorted to run a brilliant dog show - which raises money for a local animal charity each year.
Dan has organised the volunteers for the past few years - and countless volunteers give hours of their time.
We start work on organising the festival in November of the year before & things trundle along quite nicely until about April when it all gets a little insane.
Dave and Jon work full out on securing the bands for FloFest - and now also GloFest , and all that goes along with coordinating & running a full program on a large music stage. This is an awesome feat and the results blow us away each year.
DJ James Ussher lends his genius to the lazer and DJ finale of GloFest - this has to be seen to be believed.
Viv and Rob coordinate and direct the ever successful smaller Variety stage - bringing together a true local flavour.
Keith & Alice get the Woofers sorted to run a brilliant dog show - which raises money for a local animal charity each year.
Dan has organised the volunteers for the past few years - and countless volunteers give hours of their time.
We are often asked how much we pay ourselves to organise Flo/GloFest.
All of our time (which seems to grow each year), and the other key people's time, is given freely - we take no wage, we take no cut of any profits, we don't bung ourselves a lovely little bonus at the end of each year.
Each year any money that is raised from the day gets ploughed straight back into the following year.
The reason we added GloFest was so that FloFest could be more self sustaining, without us having to spend days writing funding applications.
This year (2019) we have also taken on the running of the bar concession so that the profits (hopefully) can be fed back into the next year.
All so that the festival can continue year after year, but also so that we can add more and more things that will remain free for the community attending (2019 we have a printing workshop, drama & dance classes, Flu-Flu's all for free, all paid for by fundraising, donations from local councillors and money raised from 2018) - not to mention all the fantastic bands on the main stage during the day.
All of our time (which seems to grow each year), and the other key people's time, is given freely - we take no wage, we take no cut of any profits, we don't bung ourselves a lovely little bonus at the end of each year.
Each year any money that is raised from the day gets ploughed straight back into the following year.
The reason we added GloFest was so that FloFest could be more self sustaining, without us having to spend days writing funding applications.
This year (2019) we have also taken on the running of the bar concession so that the profits (hopefully) can be fed back into the next year.
All so that the festival can continue year after year, but also so that we can add more and more things that will remain free for the community attending (2019 we have a printing workshop, drama & dance classes, Flu-Flu's all for free, all paid for by fundraising, donations from local councillors and money raised from 2018) - not to mention all the fantastic bands on the main stage during the day.