Funding plea for festival

not reliant on council grants and private funders, would mean a more sustainable future.

She said: “This is now a reality check. We know it’s a very big ask to get people to raise £15,000 at this late stage but if we don’t reach it we won’t draw the money out of the Crowdfunder.

“If we can make this happen together as a community - and that is after all what Moonraking is all about - it will propel us forward into a bright new era of Moonraking, as we build a more sustainable festival model.”

The week-long festival celebrates the legend of rum smugglers who were caught trying to retrieve their hidden barrels from under the canal bridge in the centre of the village.

By the light of the full moon they used rakes to fish the barrels out of the water. When the local militia happened upon their skulduggery the smugglers, thinking on their feet, claimed to be out raking the moonlight that beamed across the surface of the water.

In modern times the festival involves of a week of lantern making workshops, where children and families can design their own creations for a lantern procession at the end of the week.

Hundreds of people and lanterns wind their way through the Slaithwaite, cheered on by locals and visitors lining the roads.

Next, a giant paper moon is retrieved from the canal and placed back in the sky in the Moonraking ceremony.

Finally, a huge firework display marks the finale of the festival.

Bill Best, chairman of the festival management group, said: “It’s a fabulous spectacle and a real feature of the local calendar. To lose the event would certainly be a blow, that’s why the charity behind the festival has chosen to put this appeal together.

“We believe that the people in and around Slaithwaite, and local businesses in the area, understand that the Festival is a valuable and important asset for our community, and that this is actually a small price to pay considering the value of the Festival to our community.”

Anyone wishing to contribute to the fundraising can do so on the Crowdfunder page at www.crowdfunder.co.uk/moonraking#start