The National Forest

Our rapid feasibility study aimed to narrow options for how the National Forest could transform its signature festival into a major annual experience that delivered its environmental mission and messages alongside a great, family friendly experience. Blending creative curation, market assessment and location scouting with financial and business planning, we used comparators to illustrate potential options and delivery models.

The values, priorities and wider activities of the National Forest Company influenced how our findings were interpreted, assessing risk, funding and investment, creative programming and the potential partnership portfolio. Our report made a strong case that was quickly and fully adopted, even helping to source a producer partner.

The result was the award-winning Timber Festival, which ran for seven years in the heart of the Forest, and built local and regional audiences and engagement exponentially. While 2024 was the final year of the festival, the seeds sown at Timber are growing into new projects and opportunities through a vibrant ecosystem of artists, creators, and organisations.