Rising costs silence annual folk festival
Saturday 23rd May 2009, 11:30AM BST.
A popular annual folk festival in South Staffordshire which each year attracts thousands of music fans has been scrapped due to spiralling costs, it was revealed today.
The folk festival has been a popular event at Baggeridge Country Park near Wombourne for the last nine years. But leisure bosses have been forced to cancel it this year and will instead incorporate a folk-themed weekend as part of the park’s summer concert series. They said that last year’s festival had made losses of around £8,000.
They also warned that the annually increasing costs of security made the event unfeasible.
South Staffordshire Council spokesman Jamie Angus said: “The council is making a series of changes to its Concerts in the Park programme this summer with our usual folk festival being incorporated into an extended series of concerts being held at Baggeridge Country Park.
“Last year the festival operated at a loss of around £8,000 and although it was never intended for profit, increasing costs year on year, especially regarding security of the site over the weekend, has meant that this year the festival in its current guise just won’t be feasible.
“We would also expect the economic downturn to impact on ticket sales which is why we’ve added more free concerts to the summer programme, which promise afternoons of fun and picnics, and which mark the return of folk music to its relaxed, family roots.
“Also, rather than relying on one weekend of unpredictable weather, the extended concert programme offers more opportunities for people to enjoy free live music from the park”.
Leisure bosses are currently on the lookout for musicians to sign up to play at the folk weekend, on August 29 and 30.
The concerts in the park series kicks off on July 4.
It comes after Wolverhampton’s annual folk festival was at the centre of controversy when the city council decided to charge £20 for the event, which had been free since it began in 1994. But the unpopular move was scrapped when ticket sales for the event in East Park were “dismal”.
The decision was branded a “victory for common sense” by East Park councillor Keith Inston.
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Hi now the crwedit crunch has hit community events,now it is more important to host these events as many people can not afford holidays and many people in the west midlands have lost their jobs, these events keep up people sprits. the high cost of the security have probably been the reason for the closure, why did the council not look at how other music evernts are policed, by volenteers and are run by folk clubs, the people who run music clubs give of there time free and are much more able to host these events as they are running music eving all the time
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1. Wolvestock is a Folk Festival??? No, it is NOT! Its a Country Music Festival. Wolverhampton Folk Festival died a couple of years back – used to be a Northicote Farm.
2. Shame Baggeridge has gone for this year – it’s the best festival of its type in the UK and a great showcase for up and coming local talent. Lets hope it gets re-instated next year!
But in the mean time – give and give your support to the Sunday Concerts!
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