Tom Richards : Early Career Promoter Fund
Concise Project Description : Four local ‘folk club night’ events and one one-day festival, plus two showcases (Birmingham and Bristol) and a festival takeover.
Biog : Midland Metro Alliance are excited to receive an ECPF grant to support their alternative folk events, based in Birmingham but with an intention to reach out to connect with audiences and other promoters across the UK. Primarily, the grant will support Grand Union Folk Club, a quarterly event showcasing traditional and contemporary folk touring acts alongside local DJs, and building a new audience for DIY and alternative contemporary folk in the city. For 2025, Grand Union Folk Club is also holding the first Grand Union Folk Festival, which will host the club’s first international acts, alongside some favourites of the local and regional scene. Finally, we’ll also support events in Birmingham and further afield for The Acid Morris, whose ‘Acid Morris & friends’ parties put traditional folk dance music alongside noise, metal and hard dance guests and get audiences dancing to all of them, as well as bringing these parties to selected festival stages around the UK.