The prestigious – but cash-strapped – Ludlow Festival won’t carry on unless supporters stump up donations, according to its chairman.
This week hundreds of Friends of Ludlow Festival received a Special Appeal flyer, asking for donations, on top of the £20 they already pay to belong to the festival supporters’ group.
The flyer says: “Difficult trading conditions over the past two years have resulted in significant losses for the festival. The festival directors are making an appeal for funds to help make our 50th season a memorable one and to help secure the festival’s future.”
Last year, Jenny Vaughan, chairman of the Ludlow Festival revealed that the 2008 event had left a deficit of £17,000.
Already a host of top names have been lined up to make the 2009 Ludlow Festival 50th anniversary event, from June 20 to July 5, a success.
Actor Sir Derek Jacobi, broadcaster Nick Owen, and musicians Alan Price, Marty Wilde and The Swinging Blue Jeans have all been booked to appear.
The crowd-pleasing Romeo and Juliet has been chosen as the 2009 centrepiece Shakespeare play in Ludlow Castle.
Jenny said: “We would not make an appeal for help if it was not necessary, 2009 is the Festival’s 50th Anniversary and it is important that the festival is successful this year. If the trend following 2007 persists this could be the last arts festival to be held in Ludlow.”
“The festival directors and all other volunteers work so hard to make Ludlow Festival a success, there is so much free time and energy put in to ensuring that Ludlow continues to have an Arts Festival.
“The appeal flyers, 5,000 of them, were distributed to the general public and a small amount of these went to the Friends of Ludlow Festival, the response to date has been encouraging. The appeal flyer was not demanding support, it was an invitation to donate or sponsor, it is up to individuals or businesses to decide if they wished to support us.”