Stooshie hopes for next year

The man who organised a Fife music festival which turned into a financial disaster remains hopeful that a similar event can be staged next year.

The Big Stooshie, held at Giffordtown three weeks ago, aimed at raising £100,000 for two forces charities. However, neither Help For Heroes nor SSAFA Forces Help will receive a penny.

THE MAN who organised a Fife music festival that turned into a financial disaster remains hopeful a similar event can be staged next year.

The Big Stooshie, held at Giffordtown three weeks ago, aimed to raise £100,000 for two forces charities.

However, neither Help For Heroes nor SSAFA Forces Help will receive a penny from the organisers, with tens of thousands of pounds lost after the three-day festival failed to break even.

Yesterday Big Stooshie managing director Jim Russell, who confirmed he lost tens of thousands of pounds of his own money, said the covering of costs owed to bands and various local businesses was still “work in progress” with a “number of plans in place to ensure everyone is paid.”

However, despite this year’s inaugural festival selling just 3,000 of the 12,000 tickets, Mr Russell remains hopeful a more successful event can be staged next year.

He told the Courier: “Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and we were optimistic right up until the Sunday lunchtime that we would get the people in. But they just didn’t come.”

Mr Russell (42), who grew up in Kingskettle and now lives in Auchtermuchty, has been involved in music promotion for a number of years.

He believes there remains a niche in the market for a local festival that gives a platform for up and coming local bands.

Dubbed Scotland’s Charity Festival, the event at the Howe Country Centre was rounded off by rock band James, and included music from The Hoosiers, The Damned and Simon and Oscar from Ocean Colour Scene Unplugged.

While those who attended have hailed the show, the line-up was not enough to attract the desired crowd.

“We were optimistic that we would get people in, but they just didn’t come”

Jim Russell

Mr Russell said he had spoken to SSAFA and Help For Heroes and explained to them at the outset they needed 50% attendance to cover costs and 75% attendance to hit the £100,000 target.

He said they were obviously disappointed they didn’t get a large donation, but they did receive excellent exposure and publicity and it has raised awareness.

He said they were still lending support to any potential event next year.

Mr Russell said there had been a groundswell of “fantastic” public support with several hundred positive messages left on The Big Stooshie’s Facebook site.