Nutters get funds to keep tradition on road
AFOLK dance event that was put at major risk of not happening this Easter is now able to take place thanks to funding being secured for traffic management.
The Britannia Coconut Dancers had previously said that their traditional Easter Saturday boundary dance, which dates back more than a century, might not have been able to take place, as we reported last week. It was originally chalked up to funding of traffic management, which had been provided in previous years by Rossendale council.
But now the Coconutters have confirmed that the performance will go ahead on Easter Saturday (April 16) after work to secure funding.
The dance is a decadesold tradition in Bacup and sees the group dancing through the town and surrounding
villages.
Posting a statement on social media on March 31, a spokesperson said: “The Britannia Coconut Dancers are pleased to announce we will be performing our boundary dance on Easter Saturday 16th April 2022.
“After a great amount of hard work, the team have now secured the funding required for the traffic management for the day’s event.
“It has to be said that the
situation we were left with was extremely unfortunate and not of the team’s making and discussions surrounding those events are currently ongoing. The team are not and will not be used within the political arena - in previous years the team have always had support from our local and county councillors.
“Our town’s heritage is important and comes with responsibilities. We are sad
to see that some people feel our team should be sidelined and feel debate is the way forward for all concerned. We would like to thank the whole community and the local businesses for their support during this time and we all are looking forward to an amazing day with everyone.”
They also thanked Mark Butterworth and Sutton Group, Andrew Lyth, JVT
Construction, Stephen Greenhalgh, and J&J Ormerod for all their generous donations to allow the tradition to carry on.
Rossendale council confirmed last week the council had decided to prioritise funding for a limited number of events focused on Remembrance Sunday and community events being arranged specifically to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Chief executive Neil Shaw had said: “The Coconutters are the only group in the whole of the borough who previously received funding to support their road closure.
“Our expectation from now onwards will be that the Coconutters fund the full costs of their own activities, as we expect of other Rossendale community groups. Ourselves and the police have met with representatives from the group on two occasions to ensure they plan their activities just as any other community group would who require a road closure.”