Wimborne Folk Festival

[watervole]

 Wimborne Folk Festival - the event that got me into morris dancing many years ago - has reached the end of the line.

I've attended every year since I first discovered it, danced, listened to music, soaked up the atmosphere, collected  for it and always enjoyed it.

I'm not really surprised the organisers decided to call it a day, the event has been on a financial knife-edge for years.  It's very popular, pulls enormous numbers of people into the town, but gets very little financial support.  The thing that's really pissed off the committee (some of whom are friends of mine) is that there are fringe events that make big money running beer tents and the like on private land, that donate no money at all towards the costs of the festival.

Thirty two years is a long time for volunteers to maintain an annual festival.  Have chaired several conventions, I'm well aware of the amount of work that goes into organising a large event, how much goes on behind the scenes, and how much the general public underestimate the costs involved.

As a family, we've supported the festival with more than words.  We've gone out every year for the last fifteen years or so and put major effort into the street collection.  We know (because the committee told us) that the Festival would have folded several years ago without that effort. 

There are people talking about trying to save the festival.  Whether people will come forward, I don't know.  Whether they'll come forward and then change their minds when they realise the financial liability, I don't know either.  I'm noting some really daft comments on Facebook:  "I'm not aware of any attempt to ask the pubs for money" is probably the best so far.  (Just how the commenter expects to be aware of every letter and phone call is a mystery to me.)  http://www.facebook.com/SAVEWimborneFolkFestival   Though, to be fair, there are many people who clearly want the event to continue and want to help in some way.

Is it something I'd try and get involved in?  I don't know at present.  (I can see something else on the horizon that may grab my free time first, so I'm holding off from saying anything.  I'm reminding myself how stressed out I get from con-running, but also remembering the buzz when an event goes really well.)

Comments

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

This is very unfortunate, to put it mildly! It is a crime! Such a great event with a long tradition - and now all is over because of money!
How often we see great things disappear because of the finances - and people´s ignorance! Ah, I believe that people will regret soon.
However it needs a team to be successful in saving the Festival, and some promotion and lots of talking and such with the owners...not easy!
To be honest, I don´t think YOU should get involved in this: I believe you can imagine all the trouble and the time and the nerves and all...
I am sure you have been doing a lot for English folklore and its promotion and hopefully the Anonymous willgo on dancing!!!!

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

I heard this a couple of days ago but didn't say anything because it hadn't been publicly announced. It's very sad to see a longastanding festival go. Though on a smaller scaale this is very similar to the situation Steve Heap found himself in with Sidmouth a few years ago. There wasn't enough financial help from the town and the festival turnover was a staggering sum. One wet year and poor turnout could have bankrupted the people running it.

Ironically, when the organisers had an emergency meeting with the council and then pulled out because of lack of support, the town suddenly relised what was at stake and it was all 'Oh noes... we can't let out festival die.' Some of the pubs in Sidmouth admitted that HALF THEIR YEARLY TURNOVER was taken during the one week of the festival.

I presume those pubs and other local businesses kicked in because the festival was saved - or rather it was instantly resurrected under a different organisation. A somewhat similar thing happened when the organisers took the festival out of Holmfirth to Shepley - almost instantly the Holmfirth businesses got together to sponsor a festival In Holmfirth, running on consecutive weekends with the Shepley one just four miles apart. But both events seem to be doing well.

An Arts Council Report in 2004 (done for the AFO) recorded that the folk festival industry was worth 80 million pounds a year - yes £80,000,000 - to the British tourist industry - counting the spend on petrol, accommodation, food and drink, spend in the town, spend on the festival site and tickets. That is not an insignificant sum, yet all too often ordinary people risk bankrupcy to stage events without enough grant and commercial support to give them a safety net - and all on a no-profit-to-them basis. And just like folk clubs those people are getting older and less keen on risking their life savings.

Thirty three years is a long time to run a festival. I woould say that the Wimborne organising committee have performed a minor miracle year after year (my hat off to them). If there is a rescue bid it has to come from the council and traders of Wimborne itself once they've added up the cost of not having it.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I was told several days ago, but was in Normandy with the Cloggies, so didn't instantly see the email.

I remember the problems Sidmouth had. As you say, it was finding someone willing to cover the losses if the weather was bad that was the biggest problem. An issue for all festivals.

So many similarities with SF conventions. If you make a profit, it either goes to charity or is ploughed back into the event. If you make a loss, the committee pay. (I assume some of the bigger festivals are run on a commercial basis, but the weather risk is still big enough to potentially kill them.)

Is that £80 million on folk festivals specifically, or festivals of all kinds?

I think there are several things that might happen with Wimborne. The fringe events (esp the 'party in the paddock' might try and go it alone, but I don't think the events in the town pubs could survive without the dancing in the streets to pull in the punters.

It may simply die.

Or a new group of volunteers may come forward if the town is willing to stump up the cash. The pubs in particular have a lot to answer for. I look at the list of local firms that have supported the festival and, ironically, they are firms like Travis Perkins that don't actually benefit from it at all. The only pub on the list is Weatherspoons - they're new in town this year.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

The report is purely about folk festivals, not festivals in general. Long URL but the pdf can be downloaded here:

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CEwQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.takingpartinthearts.com%2Fdownload.php%3Fdocument%3D108&ei=vrg0UN7dOYSa0QXrt4DwBQ&usg=AFQjCNFm1Xc0m6Va_fYGk6R-Ixj-3C_70A&sig2=npU8LRW8faYBN8plgZYxkA

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Interesting read - thanks. (though I wonder if they're over-estimating the local spend as I'd expect many of the stallholders to be non-local)

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

I think that must depend entirely on the festival. A greenfield site like Trowbridge or Towersey won't have much local spend but a town site like Boadstairs, Whitby, Sidmouth or smaller festivals like Swanage will have much more. I think it probably averages out as they'll have sampled a wide variety of festivals.