Musicians ensemble
This isn’t a gig where you play to a room.
It’s a room that plays with you.
Perform with
not at each other.
Carnival of the Commons brings musicians and non-musicians together to make music – to perform with, not at, each other. You’ll bring two songs. The room will bring curiosity, willingness, and probably some surprises. What happens next belongs to everyone.
We’re a charity. Every penny goes back into supporting musicians and keeping the experience alive.
Before you arrive
What you’ll bring
Come prepared with two songs – well-known enough to invite participation. Something the room can sing along to, clap along to, or find their way into.
Beyond that, we ask for openness.
- To hold space for other musicians.
- To treat the Common Crowd as collaborators, not an audience.
- To let your idea be changed – and be genuinely curious about what it becomes.
- To welcome genres outside your comfort zone.
- To be interested in the mash-up that shouldn’t work but does.
- To practise non-judgement, even when the room goes somewhere unexpected.
Clause №1
The
Commons
Clause
Your songs are yours. Other people’s songs belong to their writers. What’s created together in the room belongs to everyone in it. That’s the Commons – not a legal technicality, but the belief that music created collectively should stay collective.
If something original emerges at an event, it will be recorded and shared with everyone present. No individual can extract it for solo commercial use.
Nothing original may emerge. That’s fine too.
But if it does, it’s ours.
All of ours.
Our half of the deal
What we commit to you
-
01
A properly credited performance.
-
02
A safe, well-run creative space.
-
03
Pay that reflects what your craft is worth.
In return, we ask that you –
- Arrive on time.
- Arrive with an idea.
- Arrive having read and signed
the Musicians’ Agreement.
Respect for the people around you is the only other requirement.
The stage door
Play a future part
This year’s Happening is largely cast. But Carnival of the Commons is built to grow, and the musicians who shape it in future years are out there right now. If this feels like your kind of room, we’d love to hear from you.