Transparency

Medicine Festival is an independent, not-for-profit gathering financed entirely through ticket sales, workshops, and on-site services. Producing Medicine is a year-round endeavour that involves a dedicated core team. Ticket income from each edition enables us to plan sustainably, support our creative and production teams fairly, and continue making a positive impact throughout the year. These figures are not for our fiscal year, but rather our festival year, from September 2023 to September 2024

All amounts shown include 20% VAT.

As with any festival, there are essential costs that sit outside the core production and people-focused areas. All amounts shown include 20% VAT.

In 2024, this included external services such as legal, accounting, insurance, office costs, software and on-site communications, all necessary to operate the festival responsibly and effectively. We also allocate budget to marketing and media to support the year-round visibility and sustainability of Medicine. This covers promotion online and in the physical world, press and media outreach, filming and photography, launch events and gatherings, as well as design work across our website, festival materials and social platforms, including freelance artists and designers. These figures are not for our fiscal year, but rather our festival year, from September 2023 to September 2024

Medicine is now a biennial gathering (taking place every other year), allowing us to move with greater care, intention, and sustainability. In the years between festivals, our focus turns to nurturing the wider ecosystem that Medicine sits within, taking time to develop new initiatives and long-term pro jects that deepen our mission of redirecting resources to the communities and causes that need them most. These off-years give us the space to listen, learn, and build in right relationship, rather than rushing from one gathering to the next. You can expect to see several new initiatives taking shape and launching throughout 2027.

Producing Medicine is a year-round endeavour that involves a dedicated core team. Ticket income from each edition enables us to plan sustainably, support our creative and production teams fairly, and continue making a positive impact throughout the year.

Medicine Festival remains completely independent, with no external shareholders. Every person involved is motivated by shared values - devotion , creativity, and connection - and a collective commitment to cultural and ecological renewal and preservation.

It really does take a village to make Medicine happen. In 2024, that village came together in extraordinary ways, with 252 paid crew holding the operational heart of the festival, 854 volunteers offering their time, care, and commitment, and 854 artists, performers, and facilitators sharing their creativity, wisdom, and practice.  Each group played a vital role, and together they formed the living ecosystem that makes Medicine what it is.

MEET OUR TEAM

Without our incredible artists, facilitators and wisdom carriers, Medicine Festival wouldn't run. We are always beyond grateful for those who wish to be involved in our gatherings, to share their talents and their knowledge and wisdom with the world. Alongside this, we believe in fair payment for anyone booked for Medicine Festival.

VIEW OUR previous festival lineups

In 2024, £602,915.99 was spent on staff and artist expenses, supporting our core team, event crew, artists, wisdom carriers and facilitators across the festival.

Community care has always been at the heart of Medicine - not only in the way we show up throughout the year, but in the way we gather. At the festival, care is woven into everything: how we welcome one another, the support offered in shared spaces, the sensitivity we bring to ceremony, and the collective responsibility we carry for the land, each other and ourselves. It is part of what makes the experience feel sacred, held and deeply human.

Below is a summary of insights from our 2024 Community Care Report (based on a small data set of 297 responses), our first step in bringing greater visibility to this work. It reflects both the deep sense of connection many feel at Medicine, and the areas where more clarity, structure and consistency are being asked for as the gathering evolves.

As we continue to grow, so does our responsibility to refine how we create safe, nurturing and inclusive spaces that honour the diversity of our community. Community care is an evolving practice - shaped by feedback, listening, learning and a commitment to walk with integrity.

YOU CAN EXPLORE THIS WORK IN MORE DEPTH BELOW

COMMUNITY CARE REPORT

AUDIENCE AND COMMUNITY PROFILE

Based on 297 responses, the survey comprises of 75% women, 21% men and 3% non-binary, with strong representation across ages 25–54.

14% of respondents identify as disabled and 39% as neurodivergent, alongside a diverse range of sexualities and heritage. This highlights the importance of accessibility, inclusion and care structures for a significant proportion of attendees.

These statistics don’t represent the audience at Medicine, but rather those that completed the form, however aspects of this are somewhat representative as we do see an overwhelmingly female audience, both at the gathering and online, with our instagram audience being over 75% Women, and the ma jority of followers between the ages of 25-44.

BELONGING, SAFETY & THE HEART OF MEDICINE

However, participants from marginalised groups consistently reported lower scores (–0.3 to –0.6) for safety, voice and trust in escalation path ways. While Medicine’s heart and ethos are strong, the community is calling for structured clarity, consistent communication and embedded accountability, so care isn’t reliant on good intentions alone.

EMOTIONAL & PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT

Care spaces were widely appreciated, and described as places to exhale and ground. While gratitude was high, awareness of where and how to access support was inconsistent, with many respondents unsure whether care spaces were “for them” or when to use them.

CLARITY & ESCALATION

Confidence around how to escalate an incident was notably lower, with scores ranging between 3.1 and 3.5 out of 5. This points to a need for clearer communication around how harm is addressed, who to speak to, and how care responsibilities are shared across teams.

REST, REGULATION & INTEGRATION

Feedback highlighted that care teams, guardians and crew were often overstretched, carrying significant emotional load. Respondents called for clearer rest rhythms, integration spaces and structured support to ensure those holding care are also cared for.

INCLUSION & REPRESENTATION

While 85% of respondents reported feeling safe to be themselves, scores dropped among racialised, queer, disabled and neurodivergent participants. Access to regulation spaces, clarity around cultural etiquette and trust in care pathways were among the lowest-scoring areas.

SACRED SPACES & SPRITUAL CULTURE

Sacred spaces were deeply valued, though awareness varied significantly. Only 18% of respondents were aware of the Temple, suggesting the need for clearer invitations, orientation and accessibility support. Sacred Fires were widely loved, with feedback highlighting opportunities for clearer cultural protocols for how to interact around the fires, and when the designated quiet times are.

ROLE SPECIFIC EXPERIENCES

Experiences varied by role, with a strong sense of purpose and gratitude across attendees, artists and crew, alongside consistent requests for clearer communication, role boundaries, scheduling and rest.

MEDICINE'S CORE ACTIONS + RECOMMENDATIONS

CLOSING PRAYER & REFLECTIONS

These findings form part of an ongoing integration process. The Community Care Report is not a final statement, but a commitment to learning out loud, deepening accountability and evolving how care is held across the Medicine ecosystem.

READ OUR COMMUNITY CARE REPORT

A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF OUR BUDGET GOES INTO CREATING AND HOLDING THE FESTIVAL ITSELF.

This includes venue hire, building the core infrastructure of the land, and shaping the spaces you experience during the gathering, from the art and décor that bring the site to life, to the sound, lighting and power systems that hold music, ceremony and connection. Alongside this, there are the essential facilities that support everyone on the land: toilets, showers, water points and waste management, all of which grow in scale as the festival grows. These costs exist before, during and after the gathering, and are fundamental to creating a safe, functional and cared-for environment for our community.

VIEW THE BREAKDOWN OF THESE COSTS FROM OUR 2024 FESTIVAL BELOW:

STRUCTURE AND SITE INFRASTRUCTURE - £227,449.71

Includes structures, machinery, fencing, and roads.

BUILD, ART AND DECOR - £164,704.97

Includes creative production, décor, and installations.

SOUND, POWER AND LIGHTING - £98,410.19

Includes sound tech, power, and site lighting.

WATER, WASTE AND FACILITIES - £113,752.02

Includes showers, toilets, waste management, and water.

SAFTEY, SECURITY AND MEDICAL - £98,035.22

Includes traffic management, security, and first aid.

COMMUNITY AND CARE - £13,923.68

Includes fires, community care, and welfare support.

VENUE COST - £95,841.26

Wasing Estate site hire and related costs.

All amounts shown include 20% VAT.

As part of our transformations toward deep transparency, we’re aiming to reduce the imprint our actions have on our mother, our home, and our environment. Bringing the Medicine prayer through to the Festival itself has real world impacts across five key areas:

POWER

So far, we’ve reduced harmful emissions from our energy generators by 90% having switched to powering them from vegetable oil. The next step would be very big batteries, which are still in short supply in the UK - so watch this space as we learn and grow with the possibilities available.

We've also designed our gathering around reducing, reusing and refusing new builds by creating rustic, enduring stages and intimate fires, with led light walkways and campsites to keep power usage low and low-carbon.

FOOD

At this time on Earth, we all must walk the talk, and put it on our plates too - which is why we only serve delicious plant-based food. Over three quarters of land on mother earth is used for rearing or feeding livestock, and she’s telling us this is too much. So we’ve made the choice to source as much locally grown produce - to support as much natural, seasonal, regenerative practices as possible.

We’re always learning, we’re always growing.

WASTE & MATERIALS

We’ve worked hard with the support of amazing crew and volunteers to recycle and recover between 23-40% of our waste - recycling and composting all we possibly can.

We’re aiming to reach 40-50% recycling consistently by streamlining our approaches with the lessons we’ve learned. We are also investigating on-site composting to boost growing projects on the Estate to devise a more local, land-loving solution for our plant-based food waste which is full of possibilities.

WATER

Honouring the gift of water is imperative, so we collect all our waste water and send it off the land for careful treatment. We’re careful to conserve water with all possible systems on our potable water, alongside restricted shower times which has helped us save thousands of litres of water over the years.

TRANSPORTATION

One of the biggest challenges for festivals is helping people arrive on shared, public transport - especially when the solutions themselves aren’t yet ubiquitous across society, particularly with regard to our rural setting.

But we work with partners to bring as many people as possible on coaches, organise shuttles from local train stations to encourage rail travel and support much crew shared travel too.

In 2026, Medicine will deepen its commitment to measuring these areas with greater accuracy and care, developing robust quantitative data that can serve as clear benchmarks for year-on-year improvement. We are working closely with our contractors, alongside a dedicated sustainability specialist, to ensure our practices continue to evolve and that Medicine becomes as low-impact as possible. This commitment is already taking practical form, with initiatives such as the introduction of solar-powered stages in 2026, marking an important step in reducing our environmental footprint.

MEDICINE IS PRODUCED BY MEDICINE EVENTS C.I.C, (COMMUNITY INTEREST COMPANY)

This means we are a non-profit enterprise established to host the festival and distribute its proceeds to charitable causes. After covering the costs of producing the event and sustaining our small year-round team, all surplus funds are donated directly to a range of causes, from community pro jects, to registered charities and indigenous-led organisations around the world to uplift and protect sacred traditions, honour and support Indigenous peoples, and protect and re-generate the biosphere.

We are immensely proud to share that since 2021, together through the festival we have donated over £109K to indigenous communities, land defenders, and rainforest protectors across the world.

DONATION TOTAL TO DATE: £1O9,427

Much of our support has flowed to communities in South America. As we move forward, we aim to widen and deepen these connections across the world, prioritising donations to the people and pro jects we work alongside and continuing to build long-term, reciprocal relationships as Medicine evolves.

72% of donations to date were for pro jects organised by or working with indigenous communities: to protect their traditions, support their communities and protect the biosphere where they live.

21% of donations were given directly into the hands of indigenous people and their communities, while 65% was donated to support indigenous communities and other causes via trusted NGOs (non-governmental organisations). The reason so much more was given via NGOs is that almost 60% of donations were via our ticketing platform which only offers ticket buyers the possibility to donate to registered charities and giving platforms, whilst Medicine is able to send money through Wisdom Carriers and direct relationships.

SEE WHO WE SUPPORT AND DONATE TOWARDS

In 2024, we invited reflections from the Medicine community through a survey, asking questions to help us understand how the festival is experienced, what people felt was working well, and what could be improved. This section brings together insights from that feedback, including participant satisfaction data across programming, venues, workshops, food and drink, site infrastructure, and arrival and departure processes. We have also included shared themes around what we did well, where we can improve, and quotes offered by our community.

These reflections are shared with honesty and gratitude, as part of our commitment to listening, learning, and evolving Medicine in relationship with the people who gather with us.

COMMUNITY SATISFACTION OVERVIEW

The below graph is based on 396 respondents and we asked for each respondent to select one option between very satisfied to very dissatisfied. This graph reflects participation satisfaction across key areas of the festival experience.

WHAT THE COMMUNITY IS APPRECIATING

The reflections below come directly from questions in the 2024 feedback survey asking participants what moved and inspired them, and what they felt Medicine did well. They reflect what people within the survey are genuinely feeling, valuing and experiencing at the festival, and the qualities that make Medicine feel meaningful and different from other gatherings.

Common themes included:

• A deep sense of connection, belonging and togetherness.

• The sacred and spiritual quality of the gathering.

• The depth and diversity of music, ceremony, wisdom carriers, talks and workshops.

• The beauty of the site, including decor, art and the care taken with the land.

• A feeling of an intentional, non-commercial atmosphere.

• Inclusivity and cultural diversity across the community.

• The experience of Medicine as a human, meaningful gathering, not a transactional event.

WHERE THE COMMUNITY IS ASKING FOR GROWTH

We also asked participants to share what could be improved, and what would help the experience feel more accessible, supportive and sustainable as Medicine continues to grow.

Common themes included:

• Site infrastructure - toilets, showers, water points, lighting and wayfinding.

• Food affordability and accessibility.

• Crowd flow, navigation and spatial clarity across the site.

• Arrival and departure logistics.

• Internal transport and accessibility support.

• On-site communication and information clarity.

• Capacity pressure in certain areas.

These reflections matter deeply to how Medicine evolves. They help us listen more clearly, reflect more honestly, and take responsibility for how our ceremony is shaped each time we come together on the land. We take feedback from our community seriously, using it to guide improvement, strengthen care, and shape how we gather.

VOICES FROM THE COMMUNITY

This section shares direct and beautiful reflections from the survey attendees from the 2024 festival.

“Being in community - watching others and myself come alive through connection to people and planet.”

“The offerings, the decor and the care taken to make the site look beautiful.”

“The sense of connection and community.”

“Thank you for providing such a unique space to gather, heal and grow.”

“Bringing all cultures together and creating a feeling of inclusivity.”

“The depth, the beauty, the magic, and the care in every detail.”

“A truly sacred and meaningful gathering.”

“The diversity of wisdom, music and ceremony was incredible.”

“It felt like a living prayer.”

“Love all the people, cultures and the general atmosphere.”

“A space of connection, reverence and community.”

“It felt deeply human, not commercial.”

“Medicine holds something very special.”

“A gathering that feels intentional, not transactional.”

“Thank you for creating a space where people can experience depth and meaning.”

OUR INTEGRATION AND REFLECTION POST 2024 FESTIVAL:

Each year, once the drums fall silent and the land exhales, we gather as a team to integrate. Medicine Festival is an experiment in how we can live, celebrate, and heal together. Below is part of that integration: an honest reflection on what we created, what we learned, and how we’ll continue evolving. We aim to continue on this journey of reflection and transparency moving forward into future years, too.

INFRASTRUCTURE UNDER PRESSURE:

As we grow, we’ve faced challenges from providing sufficient water and sanitation to managing waste.

TOILETS, SHOWERS AND CAMPING INFRASTRUCTURE:

Too few toilets, irregular cleaning, lack of supplies and lighting, cold or weak showers, long queues, and too few water points in campsites... can there ever be enough toilets?!

TICKETING AND ENTRY:

As numbers increased, gate and traffic management needed improvement, including early arrival clarity and better signage.

CAPACITY, CROWD SIZE AND SITE ZONING:

As Medicine grows, we continue to hold the question of how to expand in a healthy way while maintaining the intimacy, depth and prayer at the heart of the gathering.

WORKSHOP AND PROGRAMMING LOGISITICS:

Sessions occasionally lacked preparation, materials, or tech; start times slipped, and confusion arose between online, printed, and on-site schedules.

LOCAL RELATIONSHIPS:

Noise pollution from the site continues to affect nearby communities, requiring ongoing care and dialogue.

INTERNAL CAPACITY:

Our crew worked heroically, but our scale calls for clearer boundaries, rest, and long-term planning to sustain a more nourishing working environment.

FOOD:

While food was a highlight for many, we need more wholesome, whole-food, plant-based, and affordable options, and to better support local traders.

SUSTAINABILITY:

We will more accurately track and monitor our impact across power, water, waste, materials, transport and beyond, to gather baseline data to improve upon year on year.

ACCESSIBILITY AND FAMILY-FRIENDLY EXPERIENCE:

Site terrain, limited mobility access, and family area amenities (toilets, routes, signage) need significant improvement.

SAFETY AND SAFEGUARDING:

We continue to deepen our approach to mental, physical, and community safety.

CONTRIBUTOR CREDIBILITY:

Ensuring all facilitators and wisdom carriers are authentic, grounded, and culturally respectful remains essential.

DONATING:

Much of our support has flowed to communities in South America. As we move forward, we aim to widen and deepen these connections across the world, prioritising donations to the people and pro jects we work alongside and continuing to build long-term, reciprocal relationships as Medicine evolves.

• Strengthen and grow the spaces that allow the experience of a tender and intimate relationship with the sacred, whilst welcoming a growing community that wish to participate in the magic.

• Expand family-friendly areas and touch points to make the overall experience far more accessible and rewarding for those with children

• Add more water points and upgrade boutique/live-in camping access and shuttles.

• Tighten workshop and session logistics with stage managers, timekeeping, and clear capacity limits, alongside some larger venues for increased capacity.

• Ensure consistent scheduling across all formats - online, printed, and onsite boards.

• Manage capacity to preserve intimacy and avoid overcrowding, with improved site layout and attendee flow.

• Better capacity management at smaller workshop venues and stages.

• Improve sanitation across toilets, showers, and water access with better placement and cleaning schedules.

• Curate food and market offerings with more wholesome, affordable, local, and plant-based options.

• Enhance accessibility with better signage, and mobility support.

• Publish impact data and annual accounts for transparency and accountability.

• Bring sharper focus to sustainability and footprint reduction through measurable actions.

• Diversifying donations, and better assessment, impact reporting and follow up.

• Deepen partnerships with aligned organisations, cultural groups, and community networks.

• Reinforce the festival’s soul through ceremony, inclusivity, diversity, and harm-reduction visibility.

• Continue to create a feedback loop inviting community participation in shaping future editions.

• Even smoother and swifter ingress and accreditation.

Medicine Festival returns in 2026, and with it, a new rhythm.

From now on, Medicine will gather every two years. A biennial cycle gives us the space to create with depth, honour the scale this work now carries, and sustain a healthier balance for our team and community.

There will be no festival in 2027. These in-between years are for tending the roots, nurturing partnerships, developing new offerings, and keeping the flame alive through intimate gatherings. Voices of Medicine will continue, alongside additional events throughout the year.

At the same time, we’re widening the ways Medicine shows up beyond one week in summer. The festival has always been an entry point into a much larger prayer. Now we’re giving real attention to that wider work, growing our impact across culture, community, land, creativity, ceremony, and service, so the spirit of Medicine continues far beyond the festival field.

As part of this we will be launching our own charity platform 'Medicine in Action' in April, which is a new donations based initiative to engage our community to create greater impact in the world.

Looking ahead, we’re gradually extending the festival into a longer, eventually week-long experience. This begins in 2026, opening with an extra day to honour the eclipse through ceremony. The expanded timeline and increased production sit behind the higher ticket price, and we’re committed to ensuring that added depth is felt in every part of the journey.

THANK YOU FOR THE CARE, PATIENCE, AND PRESENCE YOU BRING. THIS COMMUNITY CARRIES THE PRAYER FORWARD.

Here are the facts about our financial reporting.

We file accounts at Companies House every year. Anyone can read them, free. We are Medicine Events C.I.C., company number 12163886.

Our transparency page reports the festival financial year, September to September, including VAT, because that is how the money moves around a single gathering, however companies house reports the fiscal year, January - January, this is how all accounts are submitted.

In the 2024 festival year our income was £1,575,228, our costs were £1,527,015, and that left £48,213 of surplus, used to support ongoing festival expenses, and contribute to charitable causes.

For example, there may be some payments from the 2023 gathering which were paid late, which end up in the fiscal accounts of 2024.

Each year Medicine alongside the company accountants has to make a decision as to how much we're able to give to the causes we support, and how much we need as operational costs to keep the festival going, this includes but isn’t limited to;

Ongoing management of social media channels and content

Satellite events

Interaction with our community

Ongoing subscriptions and services

Skeleton Staff

Our accounts report the calendar, fiscal year - January to December and exclude VAT, because that is what company law requires. For the year to 31 December 2024 they show income of £1,774,692, costs of £1,658,672 and a surplus of £116,020. Directors were paid £61,248, disclosed in the community interest report we file alongside the accounts.

Both figures are accurate, however, these are two different accounting periods with different VAT treatment.

We have donated £109,427 to charitable causes between 2021 and 2024, and you can see who we’ve supported here; www.medicinefestival.com/about/who-we-support/

As we are now a Biennial event, that means we have two years of ongoing costs, and only one year of income. After covering the costs of producing the festival and sustaining a small year-round team, and necessary operational expenditure, surplus funds are donated. To date, Medicine has contributed over £109,427 to charitable, Indigenous-led and community-based initiatives.

Of the 10,000 people on site in 2026, approximately 6500 are paying guests at various ticket prices, over 3000 people are crew, volunteers and artists.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, we are doing our best, and trying to do better every year - We would love to continue our mission to preserve and protect our planet, and cultures and traditions around the world - and generate more profit to contribute more funds to charitable causes in the future.