Draft:Independent Venue Week

• Comment: Tone still isn't quite right "... celebration of independent music ... seeks to shine a spotlight ... " is the kind of PR speak you'd find in a brochure. I presume you work in the marketing department?
  You may find the WP:PEACOCK essay helpful. Qcne (talk) 12:41, 9 May 2024 (UTC)

• Comment: I think this may actually meet our notability criteria, but it needs re-writing to comply with our strict neutrality policies.
  If you get unblocked, declare your conflict of interest, make a paid editing disclosure, change your username, and re-write this draft to only summarise those sources in a non-promotional way, let me know and I will take another look. Qcne (talk) 13:58, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

---

Independent Venue Week (IVW) is a project founded in the UK in 2013, designed to support independent music & arts venues and the people that own, run and work in them. The annual campaign, described by DIY Magazine, Rolling Stone Magazine and Music Week as a “seven-day celebration”, seeks to provide additional awareness and promotion for independent venues during a specific focal point of the year.

The first edition of the initiative took place in the UK in 2014, having marked its 10^th anniversary in 2023. The project has expanded into the U.S. with this first edition taking place in 2018. The Independent Venue Week project launched Independent Venue Community in 2021, programming year-round daytime activity in UK independent venues catered for various community groups.

History

Independent Venue Week was founded in the UK by Sybil Bell in 2013. Inspired by the global initiative Record Store Day, Bell "proposed a calendar week that aimed to celebrate all indie venues equally". The first edition took place in 2014 with 17 venues taking part with performances including The Amazing Snakeheads at The Half Moon, Putney and Glass Animals at The Jericho Tavern in Oxford, with Radiohead's Colin Greenwood acting as the inaugural ambassador. The initiative has since held annual editions in partnership with the likes of Arts Council England and BBC 6 Music ,as well as different ambassadors every year including Philip Selway of Radiohead, Arlo Parks, Anna Calvi, Adrian Utley of Portishead, English Teacher, Wolf Alice, Wet Leg. Its 10^th edition saw over 300 venues participate, as well as the release of the "10 Years of IVW" Impact Report, outlining the project's impact to the UK live music community in its first decade.

Independent Venue Community

Independent Venue Community (IVC) was launched by Independent Venue Week to provide support to venues throughout the year by facilitating daytime activity in these spaces to various communities. The project was launched on 19^th July 2022, programming community sessions in UK independent venues for the following demographics: Early Years, Young People, Deaf, Disabled & Neurodivergent, Mental Health & Wellbeing and LGBTQIA+. This initiative has also been supported by the likes of Arts Council England, and championed by founding ambassadors Nova Twins.

Artist Ambassadors

2014	Colin Greenwood (Radiohead)
2015	Frank Turner
2016	Wolf Alice
2017	Tim Burgess (The Charlatans)
2018	Adrian Utley (Portishead) Nadine Shah Jamie Cullum Darryl McDaniels (Run DMC) Big Jeff Johns
2019	Novelist Samantha Renke
2020	Anna Calvi Vic Galloway (Scottish Ambassador) Huw Stephens (Welsh Ambassador)
2021	Arlo Parks Amy Macdonald (Scottish Ambassador) Gruff Rhys (Welsh Ambassador) Jordan Adetunji (Northern Irish Ambassador)
2022	Wet Leg Joesef (Scottish Ambassador) Mace The Great (Welsh Ambassador) SOAK (Northern Irish Ambassador)
2023	Philip Selway (Radiohead) Beabadoobee Young Fathers (Scottish Ambassador) Adwaith (Welsh Ambassador)
2024	English Teacher Brooke Combe (Scottish Ambassador) Lemfreck (Welsh Ambassador)