Format is the sensible, non-threatening name adopted by a group of artists and musicians who, until April of this year, worked out of a gallery, shop and live music venue in the Adelaide CBD.

We did a lot of good stuff in that place. Three DIY festivals, four conferences, forty-odd exhibitions and some of the best live music shows Adelaide has seen. We also built a rehearsal space and recording studio that spawned some pretty great independent music, including critically acclaimed EPs by Terrible Truths, Swimming, Wild Oats, Old Mate and Big Richard Insect.

We took it upon ourselves to be what we wanted to see in Adelaide. We threw some parties. We started a choir. We drew handball courts on the street. We crammed helium-filled condoms into a shipping container. Somebody let us install a seven foot tall pink blob in the main gallery of the Jam Factory. We housed a team of nerd wizards in our basement. We started a street art festival. We published a book about cycling, and another one about Home for the Def. We built an outdoor stage out of cable ties and milk crates, then it rained, then we moved it all into a basement, piece by piece.

Three years went by before the building was sold to a developer, and our home became a construction site. It was a good run, and we ended it with a crazy party.

The thing is, we weren't done.

After a couple months in exile, Format is now poised to establish a new headquarters - one with a solid lease, a permanent licence and a proper board of directors. We'll stay artist-run and not for profit, but this time our home will be the kind of home that we can leave to our little brothers and sisters - the kind of home that will be as weird and fun and experimental ten years from now as that first Format Festival back in 2008.

Securing a new place will take a lot of work. Between all the soundproofing and painting and lawyering and bank-guaranteeing we're short over 100 grand. A lot of that we can sort out via government grants and regular fundraising, but we still need your help. Dig deep, and help us bring artist-run subculture back to the city.

#formatalwayswins