A grassroots music festival supported by over 1,000 UK-based pubs, bars and small venues has gained the backing of The 1975 frontman Matty Healy.
The Seed Sounds Weekender, running from 26-28th September 2025, will be presented by live music platform GigPig and has been set up to support the live music scene whilst spotlighting emerging talent.
It aims to celebrate and revive the venues where many of the UK鈥檚 most iconic acts first took the stage, which Healy has raised concerns over the risk of losing.
鈥淟ocal venues aren’t just where bands cut their teeth, they’re the foundation of any real culture,鈥� he said.聽
鈥淲ithout them, you don’t get The Smiths, Amy Winehouse, or The 1975. You get silence.鈥�
These so-called 鈥榮eed venues鈥櫬� – the first stepping stones in an artist鈥檚 journey – have been hit hard in recent years by rising costs, closures, the Covid-19 pandemic and reduced support.聽
According to the British Beer and Pub Association, more than 370 pubs are projected to close in 2025, citing rising energy costs and taxes as key challenges.
Kit Muir-Rogers, co-founder of GigPig, added: 鈥淚t’s a challenging time out there for the hospitality sector, and it’s a challenging time as an artist out there.
鈥淭he Seed Sounds Weekender is a moment to unite and celebrate what we think is the most exciting and probably the most vital step on an artist’s journey.鈥�
Despite the struggles within the sector, the Manchester-based firm, which was a member on 叠耻蝉颈苍别蝉蝉颁濒辞耻诲鈥檚 GM Rising Stars of 2025, is set to make 拢14.5m from 60,000 gigs in 2025.聽
Muir-Rogers, who was a speaker at the GM Rising Stars of 老九品茶 launch event, believes that there can be a demand for pub-based music nights, which has been proven in the response to the organisation of the festival.
鈥淣o-one’s really pulled it under a banner before. It’s never really been called anything,鈥� he continued.聽
鈥淣ow it’s widely being called seed music and seed venues, which really does paint that picture incredibly well 鈥� you plant those first seeds to watch them grow into the Glastonbury headliners of tomorrow.鈥�
Though Healy won鈥檛 perform at the event, he is acting as its ambassador. The popular singer, whose band has previously headlined iconic UK festivals including Glastonbury and Leeds & Reading Festival, has been vocal in stressing the importance of seed venues.
He explained: 鈥淭he erosion of funding for seed and grassroots spaces is part of a wider liberal tendency to strip away the socially democratic infrastructure that actually makes art possible.
鈥淲hat’s left is a cultural economy where only the privileged can afford to create, and where only immediately profitable art survives.
鈥淭he Seed Sounds Weekender is a vital reminder that music doesn’t start in boardrooms or big arenas; it starts in back rooms, pubs, basements, and independent spaces run on love, grit, and belief in something bigger.鈥�