£50k taxpayers' bill to host Sandwell's Judgestock
A music festival that saw top name acts come to Sandwell has cost taxpayers almost £50,000 – while only managing to raise a few thousand pounds for charity, it has emerged.
Judgestock saw more than 10,000 people flood through the gates of Sandwell Valley Park to watch more than 100 acts perform, including Lemar and Blue as well as Birmingham band The Twang, over the three days in August.
But Lee Judge, the man behind the festival, has revealed that he is slightly disappointed that the final fundraising figure for the event reached £3,600. Mr Judge, from West Bromwich, said: "I was a little bit disappointed with the amount we raised. I had hoped to raise even more."
A recent freedom of information request revealed that Sandwell Council had spent £49,000 running and promoting the event last year.
A total of 10,000 tickets were sold priced between £12 and £30.
In total around £1,800 was collected during the festival in buckets carried by volunteers, which was then match funded by Mr Judge's employer Npower and donated to Macmillan Cancer Support and Sandwell Mayor's charities Birmingham Midland Eye Centre and Better Understanding of Dementia in Sandwell (BUDS).
The 38-year-old added: "The show was brilliant. I really couldn't fault it and it was great to work with the council. Considering the short amount of time we had to organise this year's concert I was really happy with what we achieved."
He added that no matter what happened the event would go ahead next year and he was currently seeking companies willing to support the festival.
"Being the 10th anniversary of the event being called Judgestock we want to do it bigger and better," he added.
