Shelter Fest Seattle
case study
A two-day online music festival and fundraiser supporting local Black artists and restaurant owners during the pandemic.
Like many cities across the world, COVID-19 hit Seattle hard. While the pandemic and resulting shelter-in-place mandate disproportionately impacted the arts and food service industries, Black artists and restaurant owners were some of the hardest hit. In 2020, tidepool (FKA Bad Habit Media) partnered with a group of incredible local individuals and organizations to raise funds for the Seattle Artist Relief Fund and provide direct financial support to Black artists and restaurant owners in our region.
audience
For this fundraiser, we worked to connect with active and engaged supporters of Seattle's arts and culture community. Based on our research, this demographic consistently donated to local cultural organizations, valued equity and inclusivity within the arts sector, and often backing initiatives serving underrepresented groups.
As arts and culture enthusiasts, our audience also appreciated intentional content with a community focus and strong production value. They were also starting to feel fatigue from increasing asks for financial support from organizations struggling to replace lost revenue.
action
Ultimately, we wanted our audience to provide direct support to Black artists and food service workers in the greater Seattle area. During the festival, we offered three ways for people to support our cause:
Donate to the Seattle Artist Relief Fund, a Black-led initiative offering direct support to individual artists in our region
Pay artists through our virtual "tip jars"
Pay restaurants through our virtual "food trucks"
approach
Asking for money during a global pandemic is challenging. In a period saturated by bleak headlines and fundraising initiatives, we worked to create a welcoming, joyful, and energetic space that celebrated food, music, and power of community.
To stand out from the massive amount of digital content being released at this time, our small team produced high quality performance videos and interviews with prominent Black chefs. Filmed in and around artists' homes, we followed strict COVID-19 protocols without sacrificing style.
We partnered with trusted organizers, Nikkita Oliver and Jace ECAJ, to host the two-day event, and broadcasted our efforts through locally respected channels like KEXP, Converge Media, and the Seattle Times.
During the event, we presented the content on an interactive festival website with illustrations by local artist, Stevie Shao. The virtual experience included a mainstage, artist "tip jars," and links to Black-owned restaurants in the food truck section. During breaks, hosts and interstitial content would encourage viewers to donate to SARF and directly support the Black artists and restaurant workers.
results
Shelter Fest was a success! During the two-day broadcast, our efforts directed over $20k to local Black artists, Black-owned restaurants, and the Seattle Artist Relief Fund. KEXP re-broadcasted performances from the festival, generating thousands more views and receiving donations months after the event. In total, the festival received over 16k views and over 527k impressions.
This project speaks to some of tidepool's oldest and strongest values: supporting community, investing in underrepresented voices, and creating high quality content.
Interested in connecting with your audience through intentional visual content? Reach out to learn how we can use video to it's full potential together!
click here to learn more about the Seattle Artist Relief Fund
