Some of the UK’s biggest independent festival organisations have joined forces to lend their collective voices and call on young people to register to vote by Nov 26th – and then go on to ‘use their voice’ at the GE on December 12th.

The collective includes Boomtown Fair, Shambala, Love Saves the Day, Love International, Shindig, Outlook, Dimensions, Swingamajig, Area 404 NYE and We Out Here and all have launched a major ticket prize draw competition for their 2020 events to encourage people to register before the deadline.

The non-partisan initiative mirrors a similar one held before the 2017 general election that supported record levels of youth voters taking to the polls.

Organisers are also urging young people to read the policies of the different parties using links such as Political Compass and Who Should You Vote For? to ensure that they know who is most likely to be their party of choice.

Voter registration closes at midnight on November 26th 2019 and can be done here https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

Lak Mitchell from Boomtown said: “Every year millions of young people attend festivals across the UK to experience incredible events – but this really is the event of their lives, so we hope as many people as possible turn up to vote.”

Becka Whiteley from Shambala said: “It's incredibly important to us that we use our platform to encourage our audiences to get out there and have their say on the policies that matter most to them - be it the climate, the NHS or public services. Registering to vote is quick and easy and can even be done on your phone. Get registered, get reading the policies and make your voice count on December 12th.”

Will Lardner from Shindig said: “The importance of voting can’t be underestimated, and we hope there will be an even greater level of registrations this year than in 2017. The festival community are supporting this because young people are the future and they will be living with the effects of this election whichever way it goes for a very long time.”

Ben Jackson from Love Saves the Day said: “With society facing ever-increasing environmental, economic and social challenges, it’s now more important than ever to make sure your voice is heard. Young people are the future, and it’s vital that those who will be most impacted by this election get their say.”

Organisers are also working in collaboration with some of the UK’s main youth voter registration organisations such as Rize Up and Use Your Voice.

Ends

Media contacts

Sarah Rice; Director Rice PR 07944798380 sarah@ricepr.co.uk

Will Lardner, Promoter, Shindig Festival will@shindig-events.co.uk / 07818410388

Becka Whiteley, Marketing Manager, Shambala Festival, becka@shambalafestival.org, 07738376824

Anna Wade, Strategy Director, Boomtown anna@boomtownfair.co.uk - 07590673471

Ben Jackson, Love Saves The Day, Mobile: +44 (0) 79510 60872 ben@lovesavestheday.org

Notes to editors:

Competition rules

To enter:

1. Like and share this post on Facebook (LINK)
2. Register to vote, HERE. It’s incredibly quick and easy!
2. Comment on the Facebook post saying ‘I just registered to vote’ and tag your mates.
4. After the deadline of midnight on November 26th has passed, participants will be contacted as a winner. To accept the prize, you will need to forward your confirmation email to show you did register to vote during the specified time period. Should you not be able to do this, the prize will be passed along to somebody else. All ts and cs can be found on the relevant festival websites.
Terms and conditions
• This prize is only open to UK residents over the age of 18 who register to vote between Friday 15th November and midnight on Tuesday 26th November.
• If chosen as a winner, you must be able to send over evidence of your voter registration. If you can not do this, the prize will be passed on to somebody who can. Your voter confirmation email will be securely deleted immediately after – though we will keep hold of your email address to arrange your free tickets.
• These tickets are a prize and thus are not refundable.