14 Years of Taking Festivals Digital - Where’s it Going Next?
In 2011, the Grandad team’s partnership with Brighton Festival began.
Brighton Festival is the South East’s largest curated arts festival. Every year, it brings together tens of thousands of attendees and hundreds of freelance artists for a celebration of creativity. But, as Brighton locals, it’s extra special to us!
Over the years of working with Brighton Festival - and the other festival clients we have worked with along the way - we’ve learnt a lot and gained significant expertise. So, this festival season, let’s explore what we’ve learnt and how far we’ve come.
Brighton Festival
Let’s start from the beginning, with one of our earliest projects and one that means so much to us ‘Brightonians’.
Grandad has been Brighton Festival’s trusted digital partner since 2011, evolving the website annually to align with each festival’s theme and ensure a seamless experience for both attendees and organisers.
The website was designed with flexibility in mind, shifting effortlessly between its during-festival and off-season states. This allows visitors to access relevant content year-round while requiring minimal maintenance from the Festival team. Additionally, our integration of the Audience View ticketing system streamlined the purchase process, eliminating unnecessary steps and keeping users engaged.
Year after year, the site continues to support the Festival’s growth, encouraging conversions and making Brighton’s vibrant cultural scene more accessible to all. We have great pride in our partnership with Brighton Festival, and we look forward to another 14 years of partnership, and all of the themes we will see in that time.
Thames Festival
While this may not be a Spring/Summer festival, we cannot deny its local importance and the festival experience we have gained from working on this project.
Each year, the Thames Festival celebrates the iconic River Thames through a diverse program of events, while also nurturing year-round educational initiatives that connect younger generations with the river's rich heritage.
We completely reimagined the website's architecture, creating intuitive pathways that guide users naturally to their destinations. By simplifying navigation and crafting clear, actionable copy, we reduced the number of steps needed to access information.
The results spoke volumes. The redesigned website saw a remarkable 90% increase in organic search traffic year over year, along with significant improvements in user engagement and brand awareness. But we're not stopping there. We're currently developing new functionality and streamlining event management for the content team.
Welcome to Wandsworth - London Borough of Culture
When Wandsworth was awarded the title of London Borough of Culture 2025, it marked the start of an exciting journey to showcase the borough’s creativity, vibrance, and diversity.
The journey began with the creation of a brand that could serve as the beating heart of Wandsworth’s cultural celebration. With such a powerful brand in place, Wandsworth needed a digital home to match. The Welcome to Wandsworth website was designed to be a platform that connects the borough’s creative community, residents, and visitors alike. Read more about our work with Welcome to Wandsworth and Wandsworth Council in our latest blog.
Alongside our work with Welcome to Wandsworth, there was the consideration for Wandsworth’s own festival - the Wandsworth Arts Fringe.
This festival season marks us having come full circle with our Wandsworth friends. Last year, as the festival was wrapping up, we were diving into the discovery phase of the project. Now, the 2025 Wandsworth Arts Fringe has begun, and the website we developed supports this festival, from members submitting their events, through event creation and to when users buy their tickets - the journey is seamless because it has been expertly sculpted by the Grandad team.
Beyond Digital
Not only have we supported these festivals by crafting brand and digital experiences, but we’ve been putting the Oo in OOH. Our designers have been lucky to see their work from London Tube Ads to the Piccadilly Lights.
What’s Next for Us?
2025 has been a great year for Grandad festivals, from maintaining strong relationships with existing clients to our biggest launch of the year being Welcome to Wandsworth - 2025’s London Borough of Culture - with their Wandsworth Arts Fringe. We’ve seen our clients on seamless mobile-friendly websites, on billboards in our home town and lighting up London on the Piccadilly Lights. But we’re not done. Next year’s going to be even bigger!
We’re currently in the early stages of a project with the amazing London Handel Festival. Expect the Grandad upgrades we’ve come to see as standard, frictionless filtering, intuitive What’s On page design, refined ticketing flow and much more. Stay tuned to see where we take it from here.
What’s Next for You?
Well, if you’re on the marketing team for your local festival, or any other Arts and Culture organisation for that matter, this is your sign to consider a rebrand, or an upgraded digital presence from Grandad. Be sure your 2026 Festival will be even better than this year’s.
