Other Voices festival puts out first call for sponsors

Boutique music festival Other Voices is seeking sponsors for the first time. The festival, which brings musicians to Dingle and films their performances in an intimate church venue, is keen to build long-term relationships with “the right sponsors” to secure its future.

Now in its 14th year, Other Voices, founded by musician Philip King, began life as a straightforward RTÉ commission. Seven years ago, it grew into a broader festival and it now costs just under €500,000 to stage.

“Every year we struggle for funding to make it happen,” says producer Tina O’Reilly. The money comes from RTÉ, Fáilte Ireland, the Department of the Arts, the Irish Music Rights Organisation and donations from individuals, “but obviously there is no certainty that they will continue”.

The festival, which features both acclaimed artists and new talent, plans to return to the Co Kerry town from December 3rd-6th and hopes to have sponsor deals in place by then.

It is looking for a title sponsor and is also offering sponsorship on categories such as food, its conference element, the programme as it is broadcast and the Other Voices Music Trail, where artists from different musical genres play in venues and unusual locations around Dingle.

The festival has been lauded for an atmosphere that is variously described as special, magical and electric.

The heart of the event remains the live-streaming and filming for RTÉ of performances in St James’s Church, which has a capacity of 80 people. Tickets to attend each night are distributed through a series of competitions rather than sold.

This feeling of purity and the sense that the festival amounts to a pilgrimage for some musicians means the organisers have to be careful about any commercial deals that it makes.

“This is why the fit is very important. We are very protective of the ethos of Other Voices,” says O’Reilly, “but if we get the right sponsor, and we know it’s a relationship that might have some longevity, we can look at development opportunities”.

Dingle can’t get any bigger, O’Reilly says, but over the past two years Other Voices has had a presence at Electric Picnic, taken the concept to Derry, New York and London and had a replica church stage at the Latitude festival in Suffolk.

“Dingle is the hub, the mothership, if you like. But we know it can travel.”

Other Voices sealed its reputation for capturing unique footage in 2006 when Amy Winehouse’s appearance at the festival was made into a BBC Arena documentary released in 2012, a year after the singer’s death.

The line-up for this year’s event has not yet been revealed and some negotiations with acts are still in train.

There will be an “American-themed element” at this year’s event, which will include a public interview with US ambassador Kevin O’Malley staged by live discussion organisers Banter as well as a showcase of US artists at the festival. The weekend will also feature a conference on the diaspora that will examine “the challenges of making Ireland attractive and relevant”.

The focus on the US is in part designed to swell the festival’s social media following. It already does well on YouTube, where the Other Voices channel has had more than 10 million views, but the organisers hope that sponsors could help its performances reach an even wider online audience.

RTÉ, which split the most recent Other Voices series into two parts, is expected to begin its next run of programmes in the spring.