Folk music festivals - sources of finance

Regular readers of this blog will know that I believe passionately that the answer to most regeneration problems can be found in people related solutions and not in the multi-million pound building projects that seem most favoured by Government organisations.

When I reported yesterday that the Wessex Folk Festival (6 - 8 June 2008) had failed to win any Governmental financial support for its annual, volunteer organised and very public weekend feast of music in Weymouth, it was like a red rag to a bull and I described the decision as 'incomprehensible'.

Paul Openshaw (photo on right), who is one of the very hard working volunteer organisers of the festival in 2008 (and a very fine guitar player), contacted me and put up a spirited defence of Government organisations he had spoken to about support funding and to point out that because of other sources of income the festival was currently financially secure.

Impressed by his arguments, I decided to do some research into sources of finance for folk music and other festivals and came up with some very interesting analyses contained in a study entitled:

Where Have All the Flowers Gone? Coase Theorem Failures in English Summer Cultural Events: The Case of Sidmouth International Festival Julia Hiscock and David E. Hojman which is published on www.seered.co.uk with some comment.

I have to confess that I haven't fully digested all the interesting points that are made in this paper, however, what has become clear to me is the complexity of the issues surrounding public events such as music festivals.

It was, however, reassuring that researching other people's experiences and academic analysis might lead to best practice models for financing folk music festivals and other regenerative public activities.

It was also interesting to see that the solution preferred by the authors (if I have got it right) was to seek community ownership of the project through a wide-spread system of beneficial shareholders.

Now getting the public involved is something that I can understand and support.

Bye for now

Rob