Why We're Building Fesutibaru

David Ogilvie, CEO — February 2026

I helped organise the Borders Book Festival for twenty years. Every January, we'd open last year's spreadsheet, delete half of it, and hope we remembered why the other half was there.

That's not a system. That's a liability.

And it wasn't just us. Every festival I know works the same way, spreadsheets, email chains, last-minute phone calls, and institutional knowledge that lives in one person's head. When that person leaves, the knowledge goes with them.

Festivals generate hundreds of millions in economic value across the UK alone. They bring authors and readers together in ways that nothing else can. They transform towns into destinations. They matter.

But the people who make them happen? They're drowning in admin that was never designed for what they do.

What Fesutibaru Is

Fesutibaru is the platform I wish I'd had for the last twenty years.

Planner replaces the spreadsheets. One connected system where data is entered once and flows everywhere it needs to — programme, logistics, accommodation, travel, roles, documents. Every team member sees exactly what's relevant to them, nothing more.

Structured Pitching replaces the inbox chaos. Publicists pitch authors through a proper system instead of sending the same email to forty festivals and hoping for the best. Festivals see pitches in context, with the information they actually need to make decisions.

Why Now

I realised the problem wasn't going to fix itself. The festival sector has professionalised enormously over the past decade, but the tools haven't kept up. Every festival still reinvents the wheel alone, every year.

Alan and I started building Fesutibaru because we believe festivals deserve proper infrastructure. Not another generic events tool that doesn't understand the difference between a panel discussion and a concert. Something built with festival people, for festival people.

We're live with our first festivals. Structured Pitching has nearly 300 pitches from 90 publicists. And we're just getting started.

What Comes Next

We'll be writing here regularly — sharing what we're building, what we're learning, and what we think the future of festival infrastructure looks like. My posts will come from the organiser's perspective. Alan's will dig into the technical decisions and the product.

If you run a festival, manage authors, or care about the future of live literary culture, we'd love to hear from you.

Get in touch — or book a demo to see the platform in action.