Elderflower Fields support a huge range of independent local small businesses. We’ve made great friends over the last 13 events and are proud to have helped many businesses flourish.
In 2024 the much-loved So Sussex Sunday picnic sadly came to an end. It has been one of the most fun yet challenging parts of organising the festival and we have loved bringing this taste of Sussex to so many guests at Elderflower Fields.
We are sure everyone understands the cost-of-living crisis and rising food prices hit families incredibly hard. Our conscious decision to support those in food poverty means we will now channel a little of your festival ticket cost where it’s needed most through local charities. A huge thank you to all our ticket buyers for supporting what we do.
Having always paid a fair market price to the local suppliers we sourced the picnic food from, the rising cost of ingredients had begun to mean the costs we needed to absorb within festival ticket prices became unsustainable.
As part of our commitment to taking action on the global climate crisis, we use Vision for Sustainable Events resources to reduce the environmental impacts of our events in key areas. Although the Sunday taster picnic has brought us huge enjoyment it also presented us with a large waste issue each year. More and more single-use packaging was entering the waste chain, and some food was uneaten, undermining our vision for sustainability.
Bringing families together to enjoy the simple act of sharing food will remain something Elderflower Fields is hugely proud of, and we thank you all for embracing this somewhat bonkers event if you have been part of it in any way. We loved producing well over a thousand Elderflower Fields picnics and enjoying them in the sunshine (and rain!) with us.
We have chosen the following food charities to donate to: The Real Junk Food Project and Sussex Surplus, both Brighton-based and Olive Branch Aid, based in South London.
Thanks for the memories and supporting what we do.
EF HQ
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What does 2025 hold?
Elderflower Fields 2025 strives to help sustain the grassroots events industry and keep independent festivals like ours alive. Our focus is creating pathways into the events industry for young people and inspiring your children into the arts.
On Sunday, we hope you will join us in gathering on Dragonfly Hill with friends old and new to enjoy a host of brilliant young talent. The Big Family Dance Off returns – check out the 2025 theme. Elsewhere across the festival you can enjoy Olympic Silly Games or tumble down the rabbit hole for lunchtime Wonderland Rumble at the Moonshine Fandango.
You are welcome to gather with your own picnics and friends, and of course, the delicious Food and Drink from our food vendors remains some of the finest you’ll find across Sussex. Yum!
