Jigsaw comes together for folk festival
Amid the third national lockdown, the possible pleasures on the horizon are seeming even more precious than ever.
As far as the 2021 Southdowns Folk Festival is concerned, the good news is that the pieces of the jigsaw are ready.
It’s just a question of hoping the festival team will get the chance to put the jigsaw together.
Roger Nash, chairman of the Southdowns Folk Festival, is hoping we might just be living in an easier world by the time September comes.
“We are definitely planning on doing the festival next September, all things being equal. Obviously, we can’t be 100 per cent certain, but we are planning on doing exactly what we planned on doing in 2020, with the same headliners and support acts. We are just going to roll over the 2020 festival into 2021. The planning that we are doing at the moment is along those lines.”
The Regis Centre element of the festival next year will feature:
Thursday, September 16 – 7.30pm: Monkey See Monkey Do; 8.45pm: Steve Harley Acoustic Band.
Friday, September 17 – 7.30pm: Gerry Colvin Band; 9pm: Jez Lowe & Steve Tilston.
Saturday, September 18 – 7.30pm: Gilmore & Roberts; 8.40pm: The Strawbs.
Sunday, September 19 – 7.30pm: Red Shoes; 8.50pm: Steve Knightley.
In the meantime, the folk festival has been crowdfunding – partly to recoup the money that they had to lay out last year on the folk festival that didn’t happen, around £3,000.
“We have so far raised nearly £1,200, and we are going to keep the crowdfunder going for a while. We are looking to get another £1,500 to £2,000 to try to cover some of those costs. What we had to spend was a bit of a dent, but with the crowdfunding it is not so much of a dent now, and that’s really helpful.
“We have also got funding applications and we have had some funding from the Arts For All scheme for a project that we have also had to roll over for 2021.
“We will be hoping to get that up and running. And we have also got funding from Bognor Regis Town Council.”
If nothing else, not having a festival has underlined just how much people appreciate actually having a festival.
“People were disappointed that it didn’t happen, and that was reflected in the fact that people have donated to the crowdfunding. It is heartening to see how many people have donated. There was a genuine desire that we should go ahead.
“People enjoy it.”