Imagine a world without art. What a miserable existence that would be, eh? No music to soundtrack the good times or get you through the bad. No stories to inspire, inform, entertain; to make you feel something. No comedy to uplift us, challenge perspectives, and bring us together. The importance of third spaces cannot be overstated and that’s why we’re advocating for grassroots venues to receive Government funding.
Money Makes The World Go Round
You’d think running hundreds and hundreds of shows a year would allow a venue to make a profit, right? Well, think again…
The Music Venue Trust’s (MVT) annual report for 2025 revealed that over half (53%) of grassroots venues lost money over the course of the year, whilst government tax changes could result in over 6000 job losses. All this after 2024, which was the toughest year on record for venues like ours. The UK is losing a grassroots venue every two weeks, with around 200 currently in a state of emergency.
In early 2026, Harry Styles announced that £1 from every ticket on his upcoming tour will go to the MVT. To see mainstream music artists like him, along with Sam Fender, Coldplay and Katy Perry donate significant sums earned from tours and awards to help the cause in recent times has been a big positive. Whilst much appreciated though, this shouldn’t be something they have to take into their own hands. These are generous and important contributions from artists who can afford it, but artists have it extremely tough too.
Just last year, the hugely popular Rachel Chinouriri was forced to cancel her US tour due to financial restraints. Even household names like Kate Nash (who once played at Komedia) don’t make any money from touring and struggle to pay their crew, as showcased by her iconic Butts 4 Tour Buses campaign, which saw Kate join OnlyFans to fund her 2024 European tour. The fingertips of artists and grassroots venues alike are desperately holding on to the cracks in our foundations, if you will.
Comedy Is (Not) Theatre
Once upon a time Komedia, a grassroots venue, received funding from the Arts Council. Sadly, those days are in the past, despite being host to pretty much every artform you could think of. The official consensus dictates that comedy is not an art. We certainly don’t see it that way, and we’re not alone:
“Comedy deserves a seat at the government funding table,” wrote Kate-Lois Elliot for Chortle. “The more we experiment with what a show can be, the more varied and diverse audiences are coming to watch – people who’ve never come to comedy gigs, especially young people who are far more picky about what specific things they want to consume. It’s becoming an industry that gives a platform to stories, and I think stories can change our perceptions of the world. We all bleed, we all cry, we all laugh. These are the things that make us human.”
Live comedy is a form of theatre – with writers, directors, performers, promoters, and technicians all working together to bring a show to life. And theatre can receive Arts Council grants and National Lottery funding. So why is comedy considered a commercial industry unable to apply for financial support?
Stand Up and Give
The Live Comedy Association (LCA) launched ‘Stand Up and Give’ to raise money for live comedy in the absence of governmental funding. Alas so far, the campaign has raised £10k of their pre-Christmas £50k target.
We believe that live events, be that comedy, music, cabaret, theatre, spoken word, any kind of event you could imagine, are hugely important to a fulfilling life. They bring us together, give us joy, inspire us to make a change, and entertain us too. The importance of the small-to-medium venues which play host to these artforms cannot be overstated.
Those who work in this sector do so because they care deeply about the arts (certainly not for the money…). Thanks to incredible organisations like the MVT and LCA and the artists who are speaking out, we have seen some action in response (for example, venues like Komedia have received a 15% reduction on business rates from April 2026). These campaigns can and do work, and we must continue to show the powers that be that we care. The arts, performers and grassroots venues must be funded!
If live arts matters to you too, then follow @musicvenuetrust @livecomedyuk and artists like @katenash to educate yourself and your community. Perhaps you can even offer your time, skills, or other resources to these vital organisations and campaigns.
Not sure where to begin? Putting your name on these petitions is a good start!
- https://thecorbynproject.com/savegrassrootsmusic/
- https://www.saveourscene.uk/the-scene/campaigns/save-moth-club-email-hackney-council
- https://www.change.org/p/keep-the-york-vaults
- https://www.change.org/p/protect-the-jago-other-grassroots-venues-against-rising-noise-complaints-in-hackney?source_location=search
- https://www.change.org/p/save-grassroots-music-support-artists-to-tour?source_location=search
- https://www.instagram.com/reels/DT84EY7CP10/
