FROME Festival has received a boost after the town council committed £10,000 for the next two years to help fund the festival.
The event which runs for 10 days from the 4th-13th July brings the community together and attracts many visitors for a celebration of music, the arts, community and all things Frome.
Now in its 14th year, The Frome Festival would have disappeared long ago without the support and hard work of a core team of dedicated local people who programme and manage the event each year.
The festival requires funding to survive and as funding from district and county councils disappear for the arts, the team at Frome Town Council still recognise the importance of funding such an important event.
Cllr Peter Macfadyen said, “We have just made a £10K commitment for the next two years to fund the festival. It’s hugely important to the town and something we should all be very proud of. This funding should allow them to explore sponsorship and long term sustainability. This support is more structured and something we believe adds to the economy of the town.”
Martin Dimery, festival organiser, echoes this sentiment. He said, “The Frome Festival is delighted to be receiving support again from Frome Town Council. The significance of this award is that it covers not only this year’s festival, but 2015 as well. This gives us the security to plan well ahead and apply for longer term funding and sponsorship from other organisations.
“Up until now, we’ve never been able to guarantee the Festival will continue from one year to the next, and this has limited our scope in developing the organisation. In the last year we have had to spend £4,000 on upgrading the office’s dilapidated computer system. The insurance bill for the festival alone is in the region of £2,000.
“The benefits though, are self evident, not just in the size and scope of the programme, but with so much local participation, and the huge financial injection the festival creates for the local economy, in terms of tourism.”