Letter: Business people are partly to blame for decline of festival
Around the country many music festivals are run successfully when local traders and business people help out with sponsorship. It makes good business sense if you are making money from a festival then put a percentage of your profits back in to fund it.
Ludlow Arts Festival could have and should have survived and gone into the future in good shape if they had been helped out more.
An example is when Chris approached a well-known hotel in town and asked if they would discount the charges for his artistes staying for a sponsorship, they flatly refused. Shocking in my view.
We sponsor the last night which costs quite a bit of money, we do not get anything in return like traders, but like to help out to get big names to Ludlow in that magical setting in the Castle.
As for the talk about the future with big names not ruled out.
Unless firstly the Castle help out, if my information is correct, which I am sure it is, they wanted to increase the charges for 2015. So, they would want to show they wanted a show to go ahead and keep charges down.
You would want a voluntary committee who knew what they were talking about and pulled in the same direction also get the traders on board with sponsorship, I hope it does happen, but cannot see it.
It is sad to see the festival's demise, as many hard working people looked forward to it for half of the year. Besides the finance, the festival people had to put up with many complaints from very sad people who complained about noise, unloading and loading equipment in Castle Square, 53 complaints in all.
Knowing the financial gamble the two Chris's took with the festival, we had two very good events.
Finally I say to those traders who said in the fallout of the demise, "we need the festival", I say where were you when the festival wanted you?
Mike Morris
Ludlow
