DESPITE having had a successful year with great weather and high attendance figures, the festival committee reports it will be struggling to put on a festival in 2023 without new helpers.
“With the festival growing in size, we urgently need more people on the committee,” says festival vice chair Debbie Ince. “Mostly we need fundraising and marketing officers. These roles have been vacant since 2019 and other committee members had to fill in on top of their own workload. That isn’t sustainable and they’re not willing to do this again.”
“We need new enthusiastic people who bring in a fresh pair of eyes and innovative ideas,” says outgoing Festival Chair Christoph Fischer. “After five years at the helm there is a danger of becoming stale and complacent and not giving it your all. I’ll remain on the committee to support whoever is coming after me, but I will step down at the AGM.”
“Fundraising and business liaison is important, now that costs are going up,” explains treasurer John Meredith Williams. “We gave businesses a break from the pledges system by digging into our savings, but we will need more sponsorship and support in 2023 to run the festival.
It takes commitment to come on board but it is absolutely worth the while when you see the children smile on Friday night and the shops rammed with customers.“
The Festival will hold their AGM on Wednesday, January 18, 7PM at the White Hart and is hoping for support from business owners and volunteers to keep going.
