Southdowns folk festival launches fundraiser ahead of its tenth anniversary
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They’re hoping to raise at least £1,000 for the event, which is set to take place in September, and have asked residents and regulars to donate £5 each. With more than £750 already raised, the folk festival team are well on their way, and have promised that every penny of the final figure will go towards organising, promoting and running the festival.
The call comes after Bognor Regis Town Council members voted to reduce the festival’s yearly budget in late 2022. Organiser Roger Nash said he and the team have been forced to reorganise their priorities for this year’s event, but the festival should lose none of its scope or community spirit.
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Hide Ad"The town council made the decision back at the beginning of November, but there’s a possibility of some other funding from Arun. So all is not lost. But obviously we’ve had to rearrange how we want to do things,” he explained.
"Last year, they gave us £12,000, which was very good of them, but this year, that was reduced to £3,000. So it’s been quite a big cut. This year, we won’t have the Regis Centre available either because of the building work that’s going to start there, which makes it hard to have big headliners like we did last year.”
That means the focus for 2023 will be on larger, community-led efforts, designed to get as many people as possible dancing to the music. “What we’ve done is relocated from the Place St Maur to Waterloo Square, where we can have a bigger ukulele and music marquee.” Mr Nash added.
On top of that, there are hopes of closing the seafront road near the pier to run more free events and craft marquees, giving members of the public even more opportunity to get involved. This year's event will also see the introduction of the Southdowns Beer and Cider Festival. Organised by local micropub The Dog and Duck, it will showcase craft beers from all over the country and should go down nicely with the folk festival’s signature blend of folk music and community spirit.