Organisers of Just So Festival, Kendall Calling and Ramsbottom Festival, the founding members of the consortium, announced the news yesterday (29 January).
The consortium said the funding, awarded over a two-year period, would go towards commissioning new pieces of work to premier at the festivals in 2015. It will also help with wider collaborations within the greenfield festival sector, as well as introduce family audiences to outdoor arts experiences.
The strategic touring programme is designed to encourage collaboration between organisations so that more people across England can experience the arts, particularly in areas which rely on touring for much of their arts provision.
Sarah Bird, director of Just So Festival, said: "We are thrilled to have been awarded this funding, we’re committed to enabling and encouraging families to access brilliant transformative arts in immersive outdoor environments.
"This is a very exciting development for the three of the festivals involved and we’re very grateful to Arts Council England for supporting us to expand and develop our work."
Alison Clark-Jenkins, director, North for the Arts Council, added: "I am delighted that the Just So Festival and its partners are being supported through our strategic touring fund.
"One of the aims of the programme is to increase family audiences and this project will help us to achieve this by expanding the amount of high quality outdoor arts provision for families at music-focussed commercial festivals."
Just So Festival is produced by the Wild Rumpus Community Interest Company, a not-for-profit social enterprise. The event will take place at Rode Hall Estate in Cheshire between the 15 and 17 August.
Kendal Calling, based at Lowther Deer Park in the Lake District, is set to welcome 15,000 festivalgoers in 2014 on 1-3 August.
Ramsbottom Festival, organised by Bury Metropolitan Arts Association, attracts over 6,500 visitors and this year will take place from 19 to 21 September.
Comment below to let us know what you think.
For more in-depth and print-only features, showcases and interviews with world-leading brands, don't miss the next issue of Event magazine .