Music festivals can feel like they’re happening to a town rather than with it. Oxjam Festival in Lichfield set out to close that gap. The challenge wasn’t scale or spectacle, but belonging — how to make a festival feel shared and unmistakably local. So, local talent shifted from footnote to headline. Oxfam ambassador KT Tunstall and Bastille's Charlie Barnes (who was born in the town) were brought on board through artist management outreach, securing exclusive performances that added both weight and heart. Visually, the festival took its cues from the town itself. An immersive Beat Box installation in the town centre designed to invite passersby to play and experiment with sound — a concept of creativity and the collective. Through participatory space, shared sound, and artistic DNA, the Oxjam story travelled across every channel until the community embraced the event as their own. Gigs became gatherings, and the festival a movement people could believe in.