Behind the scenes: Treehouse 2022
Today on the Indie Oxford blog we go behind the scenes at Treehouse 2022 to find out how Tom and the team plan the festival, what they have in store for this year and how you can get your hands on tickets with a special Indie Oxford discount! >>
What are your goals for Treehouse 2022?
Our main goal is simply to sell out! 2022 is set to be an exceptionally challenging year for small festivals, with a backlog of two years’ worth of events vying for ticket sales in the short summer window. Uncertainty around restrictions, lockdowns and potential future COVID-19 waves all mean that guests are waiting until the very last minute before booking tickets. We are spoilt for choice when it comes to amazing UK festivals this year!
It’s heart-breaking to see that many small, independent festivals have already been forced to cancel this year due to slow ticket sales, with event organisers fearing being unable to pay their bands or suppliers.
Having successfully run Treehouse in 2020 and 2021, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, we are confident that we’ll make TH22 happen, no matter what! We’re lucky to be able to keep our overheads low and pride ourselves on making quick, informed decisions as new information becomes available.
We are aiming to make the sixth year of Treehouse the biggest and best to date. We’re doubling the festival capacity to introduce even more people into the Treehouse community. We’re investing heavily in our festival offering to ensure we continue as Oxfordshire’s most unique festival of the summer, whilst talking to our beloved Treehouse guests to ensure we remain focused on the things that matter most to those who show up year after year.
How do you create a budget for the festival?
To date, our budget has been based on our projected ticket sales. Having sold out in 2019, 2020 and 2021 we have always had a relatively accurate budget to work to. This year is going to be a little different, with slow ticket sales throughout the industry, we’re going to have to plan accordingly. It’s likely we’ll need to increase the amount we spend on marketing (previously, zero!) to spread the Treehouse word a little further.
For 2022 we’re looking to introduce alternative revenue streams to bolster our bank balance. These include sponsorship, grant funding and investment in revenue-generating assets, all of which will mean we can maintain the financial security of the festival even with lower-than-expected ticket sales. Tom has been hard at work converting our first horsebox into a beautiful wood-fired sauna, and our second horsebox into a stunning mobile bar, both of which will be available to rent after the festival for private events.
Once we’ve got our tentative budget, we cost out our fixed overheads, those things that are essential to the safe and successful running of the festival. Licences, insurance, paramedics, and security all fall into this category. Next, we think about production: power, sound and lighting, all of which are still essential, but can be flexed a little in accordance with ticket sales. The most exciting part of the budget is discussing the bands, performers, and facilitators, all of who make up the lifeblood of the festival. We have some regulars that we invite back year after year, as well as always making sure to bring in some new blood to keep things fresh.
What does your event timeline look like?
The planning for TH22 started the moment TH21 gates closed, literally! Last year Tom and the exhausted Treehouse team raised a celebratory beer as the festival closed on Sunday night, before immediately discussing what we could do better next year. Notes were taken, diagrams drawn and plans laid.
Winter is all about getting the backbone of the event in place, locking in dates, insurance and infrastructure. Spring sees the details come to life, with bookings for workshop facilitators, performers and facilitators. Summer is when things really get going, with Tom busy down in the woods every available moment building the site which makes Treehouse so special.
In the run up to Treehouse, we organise several Build Weekends at the site, where guests are invited to come along and lend a much-needed hand, before being thanked with pizza and cold beer. These weekends have become important dates in the Treehouse calendar, with guests taking a little ownership for shaping the magic of the festival, as well as getting to know the team and other guests ahead of the main festival.
Who is the festival aimed at?
Right now, Treehouse is aimed at young professionals in their 20s and 30s.
However, unlike most festivals which have a set target demographic that doesn’t change from year to year, Treehouse is designed to age over time with our regular, loyal guests. As an example, right now a small subset of our guests have kids, but most haven’t settled down in the traditional sense. In five year’s time we expect that will have changed: as well as our late night DJs, we’ll also be focusing on family-friendly activities to ensure those with little ones are still able to enjoy the festival.
We’ve already taken on the feedback from 2021, with many guests expressing that they’d like a little more luxury with their festival experience. We’ve partnered with the Cotswold Bells, to offer gorgeous luxury glamping, and we’ll also be offering hot showers for the first time, for those who can’t live without a good scrub in the morning!
New for 2022 is the introduction of the Treehouse Spa, a whole new area complete with wood-fired hot tub, horsebox sauna and ice-cold plunge pool, all included in the price of a ticket. Tom has been hard at work converting the horsebox and can’t wait to see it being used at the festival.
What makes the site a perfect festival venue?
We’re incredibly lucky to be able to use Curtis’ Copse year after year for the festival, and we owe this to the generous support of Tom’s parents. The site is perfectly placed below the ancient Uffington White Horse, providing stunning views to wake up to from your tent. The site itself is set over two green fields, separated by a 1.5 acre stretch of ancient woodland. The woodland was once farmed as a coppice to provide hazel spicks for local thatched cottages on the Cranfield estate.
Which indies are you working with at the festival?
We absolutely love working with other indies and would love to chat to anyone who would be a great fit for our music and arts festival. We’re incredibly grateful to Tap Social for their continued support since our very first year and we were proud as punch to be sponsored by them again in 2022.
We’ve got to mention our favourite sustainable laundry startup, Oxwash, who kindly sponsored our beautiful reusable recycled stainless steel pint cups. For full disclosure, Founder and Head Carpenter Tom is the COO of Oxwash in his day job, and attributes much of Treehouse’s success to the entrepreneurial journey he has been on with ex-NASA engineer Dr Kyle Grant, the Oxwash CEO & Founder.
Do you have a theme for this year, and if so, what can people expect?
If you like to dress up, you’re in safe hands at Treehouse! Saturday night has become infamous for the spectacular, often outlandish, outfits our guests meticulously create. As the sun begins to set, it’s time to get dressed up, ready to head down to the main stage at the heart of the woods for our Saturday night headliners.
We believe in themes that are accessible to all, so the TH21 theme was simply ‘Gold’. Our guests truly outdid themselves, with an opulent outpouring of unique outfits that can be clearly seen throughout the TH21 Aftermovie. Since last year, we’ve rebranded the festival parent company as Treehouse AF, and in recognition of this our 2022 Saturday theme is ‘Gold AF’. We can’t wait to see you turn it up to 11 this year!
How do you plan the line-up and festival activities?
Planning the line-up is hands down the best part of the Treehouse planning. This almost always happens over a beer, whether tucked in the corner of a cosy Oxford pub, on the roof of Tom’s canal boat or in the Treehouse itself. There is an art to sculpting a good line-up that Tom and the team have been honing over the last 5 years.
We start with a blank spreadsheet, before working backwards from the headliners to gradually fill in the lineup on the main stage and Sheep Shed stage. We aim to book our dream lineup and go from there. We always keep a couple of sets free for last minute bookings, as we’ve learnt that bands that serendipitously appear at the last minute often bring the most magic to the festival!
We schedule in lulls for guests to grab lunch and dinner (or get ready for the Saturday night theme!) and we always aim to give every performer a good crowd.
We know that people come to Treehouse for so much more than the music, so we pay equal attention to the line-up of workshops, events and activities. We try to avoid conflicting clashes, but with only 48 hours to play with sometimes guests have to make tough decisions on where they spend their time. We acknowledge that music, dancing and drinking isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, so we make sure to have sober activities that run late into the night, as an alternative to our DJs. The late night pub quiz will be back by popular demand for 2022!
I absolutely loved being at Treehouse 2021 last year. Being immersed in the beautiful site nestled underneath the White Horse hill is just magical, and there’s nothing like being out in the countryside, listening to live music and being part of a warm and welcoming festival community to feel rejuvenated and revitalised.
There’s something so lovely about being at a small festival, everyone is part of making it a fun, joyful and happy weekend and that really does create the Treehouse vibe. Plus there’s no schlepping stuff miles from your car to camping, or soulless big brands charging £10 for a pint. The team bend over backwards to make sure everyone has a good time, from keeping the toilets clean to creating experiences like life drawing workshops and morning yoga classes. Tom and the team offer so much for the ticket price, making this a really affordable way to have a magical weekend getaway, supporting local, community focused small businesses.
If you want to get a taster of what Treehouse is all about, head to the Tap Social Tap Room today where Treehouse will be teaming up with Fit Farm Festival to bring a very special collaborative free mini festivals to Oxford, complete with classes and workshops, as well as street food and an awesome music line up playing into the small hours. Find out more here.
See you there!
Treehouse AF | Music & Arts Festival Oxfordshire 2022 runs from Friday 29 th July to Sunday 31 st July in Uffington, Oxfordshire. Head to Treehouse AF and use INDIE10 to get a 10% discount.
Here’s to summer fun in Oxfordshire!
Photos by Fyrefly Studios & video by Oxford House Motion Pictures.
