Ludlow Fringe arts festival under threat
The future of Ludlow's sole remaining summer arts festival is in jeopardy as the axe hovers over council funding, organisers have warned.
It will be "doubly hard" to put on Ludlow Fringe Festival next year if Shropshire Council pushes ahead with plans to pull the plug on thousands of pounds in arts funding and scale down support staff, according to the festival's marketing manager Samantha Cole.
Ludlow has already lost its traditional summer arts festival, which was scrapped in 2014.
The fringe festival stepped up to take its place this year with a bigger-than-ever three-week run. But now that too is being threatened by possible cuts to the council's revenue client grant scheme, which last year awarded a total of £65,150 to 32 organisations in the county – including the Ludlow Fringe.
The news came as a shock, Ms Cole said.
"It does put it in jeopardy and makes it doubly hard to get things going when we're already at full tilt," she said.
"There are a lot of things that put us under threat because we don't get much grant funding and we are all volunteers.
"The council grant is not a king's ransom but it would have enabled us to do an awful lot. If the council is funding you it gives you a certain kudos and credibility so that other organisations also fund you.
"But it's not just the money, none of us are trained festival organisers – we had a lot of help and advice from the arts officer which was invaluable.
"Now we're obviously not going to get that because they're not going to be full time and they'll still have to deal with the whole of Shropshire."
She said it was a real blow after the success of the fringe festival this year.
"In the last three years we have brought a festival to town that has exceeded most people's expectations," she said.
"The town has been vibrant, lively and buzzing – I have lost count of how many people have come up to me and said it's much better than the old festival.
"Most of the stuff we had on this year was a full house, and we didn't have any unsuccessful events. Our plans for next year were to grow it to try to bring more people from outside Ludlow into town, which would be great for the town.
"Just at the point when we thought we should be getting more support, the council is talking about taking it away.
"It makes me think the council is not interested in the arts, and doesn't want to promote one of their towns as something special," she said.
Councillor Steve Charmley, cabinet member with responsibilities for culture, said: "We recognise the importance of the arts sector and the additional value they bring and wish to engage and consult more fully with them in the coming weeks on this matter."
A Fringe Focus meeting on the way forward for the festival will be held in the coming weeks, at a date yet to be set, but supporters are urged to attend.
