Back on the 25 March 2025, our crowdfunder - Help Flos Collective CIC Run Our First Festival! - reached its goal and officially closed after raising £7,317 thanks to the incredible support of 96 generous backers. Half of that total - £3,500 - was match-funded through Creative Scotland Crowdmatch, meaning every pound you gave carried double the impact.
Why This Milestone Matters
This isn’t just a fundraising number - it's the foundation for Flos Festival (working title), our first-ever four-day celebration of grassroots creativity in Glasgow. Through your contributions, we’re bringing together:
A visual arts exhibition spotlighting emerging artists
Live music & DJ sets rooted in Glasgow's vibrant DIY scene
Panel discussions exploring accessibility, queer and gender-diverse spaces, and grassroots organising
Hands-on workshops, community gatherings, and a shared community meal to build connection and nourishment
All funds raised will go directly into delivering the festival - and anything extra will help sustain Flos Collective’s 2025 programming across the year.
What Your Donation Enabled
Your support is backing so much more than festival weekend logistics. It enabled us to:
Pay artists, performers, facilitators - fairly and intentionally
Hire venues and build production infrastructure
Provide accessibility and transport support, ensuring participation isn’t a barrier
Secure materials, equipment, and documentation to celebrate and archive what we create together
Amplify our voice through marketing and outreach, expanding audiences and impact
For a grassroots organisation built by artists - for artists - without external funding for the past two years, this is a huge moment. Flos Festival is our most ambitious project to date, setting us firmly on the path toward long-term sustainability.
What the Festival Weekend Looks Like
Here's a snapshot of the four-day adventure your support brought to life:
Wednesday 8th: Exhibition installation, designer prep with artists
Thursday 9th: Opening night with live performances and celebration
Saturday 11th: Interactive collage & movement workshops plus a film screening
Sunday 12th: Daytime talks on grassroots organising and arts access, DJs, and community connection
Monday 13th: Exhibition de-installation, reflections, and collective wind-down
Thank-You from Flos
To our 96 backers: you blew us away. Every single donation, big or small, kept us going through the late nights and long planning chats.
To Creative Scotland: thank you for doubling our funding and backing grassroots work that usually gets overlooked.
To Glasgow’s grassroots artists, communities, and organisers: your energy and solidarity is what makes this feel possible. We’re so lucky to be building this with you.
This is just the beginning!
What’s Next?
As Flos Collective gears up for the festival in October and beyond, we’re excited to share highlights, reflections, and artist stories from the weekend.
If you’d like to support the work we do at Flos Collective, you can donate here or sign up to our mailing list to stay in the loop. Every share, donation and kind word keeps us going.
