As I approach yet another February 14th single, and begrudgingly try to write a hinge prompt that carefully balances my intelligence and subtle sense of humour, I find myself reflecting on why I’m finding it so hard to fall in love.

Here’s the truth: running a grassroots collective isn’t an easy ride. There’s no big pot of money, no corporate sponsor footing the bill. It’s us - juggling jobs, scraping by and putting every bit of energy we have into keeping Flos alive.

Running a grassroots arts collective is basically one long game of dress-up. Except instead of fun costumes, it’s metaphorical hats - and we seem to collect new ones every week.

As summer falls and the shift of Autumn’s approach begins, our bodies grow stiffer with the decline of outside’s temperature. We hold things a bit closer; we wrap ourselves up a bit tighter; we walk a bit faster and we don’t stop to relax and notice like our summer selves once did.   Last weekend I took part in ‘Collective Rhythms’ led by the incredible Nora Aubrey. It made me strongly aware of the shift my being was going through and embrace a deeper understanding and care

Over the weekend of August 15th, 2024, I went to We Out Here Festival (WOH) . Having grown up attending festivals across the UK since I was 8, this one felt refreshingly different for a commercial festival. It wasn’t just another lineup of artists or a space for big commercial acts; it was a homegrown celebration of music and culture that felt linked to the UK arts and music scene. 'We Out Here Festival, inspired by the 2018 Brownswood Recordings compilation of the same name,