About this research project
This blog is part of my Go See Share Fund series, supported by Creative Scotland. My research looks at how artist and community-led organisations manage to be financially sustainable while staying accessible and inclusive - something we think about constantly at Flos Collective.
We’ve built our own model around pay-what-you-can ticketing, making sure cost never prevents participation. But as we grow, we’ve been asking: how can we keep things financially fair for both artists and audiences without falling into the trap of constant fundraising?
That’s what drew me to Opal Festival - a participatory event in Normandy that has spent the past decade refining a model based not on profit, but on trust and shared responsibility.
A festival built by its participants
Opal was founded about ten years ago by a small group of friends who wanted to create an event outside of commercial culture, inspired by the Burn ideology of festivals such as Burning Man - something collectively built and financially transparent. Today it welcomes around 350 participants each year to a field in Normandy, where the community builds, decorates, performs and cooks together.
There are no paid staff, no sponsors, and no money exchanged on-site. Instead, everyone contributes equally - both financially and practically. Even the core organisers, artists, and performers pay for their own tickets, and all of the coordination and planning work throughout the year is done voluntarily. This ensures that everyone - from first-time festival-goers to long-term organisers - enters the experience on exactly the same footing.
Tickets operate on what they call a “free and responsible” pricing model. The suggested contribution is €60 per person, which roughly covers the running costs (sound, staging, electricity, food, drink, and materials). Those who can afford to pay more are encouraged to do so; those who can’t can select a solidarity ticket at €25 without having to prove need.
This approach keeps the festival accessible, but it also builds in a quiet culture of mutual accountability. People understand that if they don’t contribute fairly, the collective experience will suffer - so they don’t abuse the system. That trust is the foundation of the whole financial structure.
Keeping costs radically low
What makes Opal financially sustainable isn’t income, but minimal overheads. The organisers call it a “festival of limits”: everything is designed to reduce dependency on external funding.
Volunteer labour replaces wages. Everyone works at least one shift - cooking, cleaning, bar work, or logistics. Labour is distributed rather than centralised, meaning the “staffing budget” is effectively zero.
Shared infrastructure. Stages, sound systems and decor are built by the community, often from recycled materials. Local farmers lend hay bales for seating and sound insulation. Artists bring their own instruments and gear.
Borrowing and barter. Many costs are reduced through favours and reuse - neighbours lend tools, equipment, or vehicles; artists share lighting rigs; food and drink are sourced locally.
No wasteful spending. The “bubble bath” (planning meetings) decides budgets collectively, line by line. Each bubble (team) only requests what’s needed, which keeps spending grounded in realism.
Because there are no salaries, no marketing costs, and minimal equipment rental, the annual budget stays around €20,000. For a four-day festival with multiple stages, food, power, and camping facilities, that’s surprisingly low.
This financial model isn’t about making a surplus - it’s about balancing just enough to do it again next year.
Transparency and trust as currency
What struck me most during my meetings with the core team was how financial transparency is treated as community culture.
Each year’s planning cycle starts with a collective budgeting process. Every bubble lead estimates their costs for the year; the “core team” compiles this into a single shared spreadsheet, which is open to anyone who asks. Nothing is hidden - every euro spent on sound, beer, or compost toilets is visible.
That transparency builds both accountability and autonomy. Because everyone can see the finances, no one has to micromanage or justify decisions. People act responsibly because they feel trusted to.
Even reimbursements follow this principle: if you buy supplies for your bubble, you submit your receipt to the accountant and are reimbursed within 15 days. It’s efficient and fair, but still informal enough to feel communal.
Why it works: minimum cash flow, maximum sense of ownership
Financially speaking, Opal runs on a razor-thin margin. But what makes it sustainable is the shared belief that everyone owns both the risk and the reward. Because everyone pays the same and contributes equally, no one is “owed” a better experience than anyone else.
There’s also no mission creep. The festival doesn’t grow its capacity or ambition beyond what’s affordable. Every year, it resets to the same scale - 350 people, same land, same infrastructure. That predictability is its economic strength.
This smallness also limits bureaucratic exposure. Staying under 500 people avoids expensive permits, and running as an NGO keeps insurance and liability costs manageable.
There’s no dependency on external grants or sponsors - which means no compliance paperwork, reporting burdens, or pressure to justify artistic value. Instead, the organisers’ time is spent doing the work, not proving it.
Care as a community value
At Opal, money is not absent - it’s just decentralised. The whole system depends on a shared sense of fairness and care. The core organisers could, in theory, charge more or fundraise externally - but they deliberately don’t, because that would shift the power dynamic.
This approach creates an economic intimacy: a feeling that you’re financially responsible to each other, not for each other.
It’s also self-correcting. The post-festival KISS survey (“Keep, Improve, Start, Stop”) includes questions about spending and pricing. Participants regularly suggest adjustments - for example, raising the ticket slightly to account for new eco measures - and those decisions are made collectively in the next Bubble Bath.
That feedback loop keeps the finances responsive and realistic without losing trust.
What Flos Collective can learn
For Flos, Opal offers a valuable counter-model - one that shows how financial sustainability can come from shared responsibility and cultural alignment, not just funding diversification.
1. Transparency builds value.
Opal’s open-budget model makes people feel invested. Flos could take inspiration by publishing simplified breakdowns after events (“here’s what we spent, here’s what came in”), helping our audiences understand what it takes to make things accessible.
2. Balance income with agency.
At Opal, contribution equals belonging. For Flos, we could introduce optional volunteer shifts or co-production roles at events - not as unpaid labour, but as ways to share agency and distribute effort sustainably.
3. Aim for “enough,” not excess.
Opal doesn’t chase growth. It covers its costs and preserves its intimacy. For Flos, that’s a powerful reminder: sustainability doesn’t have to mean expansion. It can mean stability, predictability and good care.
4. Keep financial ethics human.
Even with a tiny budget, Opal demonstrates how fairness and honesty around money can be more impactful than any grant. We can mirror that ethos by ensuring artists and collaborators understand where our funds go and how we make decisions about pay.
5. Plan for rhythm and rest.
Opal’s yearly cycle - build, festival, debrief, rest - prevents burnout. For Flos, we can think similarly: budgeting our time as carefully as our money, allowing downtime as part of sustainability.
Reflection
Opal Festival might not look financially stable by conventional standards, but it embodies another kind of sustainability - one based on collective equilibrium. It’s a system where costs are shared, decisions are transparent, and trust is the primary currency.
The result is a community that feels both free and accountable - people don’t give because they’re told to, they give because they care.
For Flos Collective, this trip reaffirmed that financial sustainability isn’t always about increasing income; sometimes it’s about decreasing dependency. If we can combine Opal’s radical transparency and participatory mindset with our own inclusive mission, we can grow into something resilient - a collective that values care as much as cash flow.
In the end, Opal reminded me that the most sustainable economies are the ones built on generosity.
– Esme, Co-Director, Flos Collective
