March 31, 2010
When the going gets tough – help is at hand
The cold wind of the recession is felt by all parts of our sector and community arts is no exception. One of the country’s largest and oldest community festivals – Leith Festival – was staring disaster in the face when every one of its long standing corporate sponsors walked away. But the true value of being firmly rooted in the community has taken on new meaning after local shops, businesses and the wider community rallied to the cause
LEITH FESTIVAL 11-20 JUNE 2010 www.leithfestival.com
The Leith Festival is a voluntary organisation with charitable status.
The festival celebrates all that Leith has to offer – our heritage, our culture, our diversity, our future and our people. It is a community arts festival that encompasses all art forms which comes together in a fantastic 10 day programme in the Summer. We have over 100 events in 50 venues within a 1 mile radius from the heart of Leith.
The 10 strands are:
THEATRE, DANCE AND PERFORMANCE; COMEDY; MUSIC; VISUAL ARTS; WALKS, TALKS AND OPEN DOORS; LITERATURE; FILM; SPORT; SPIRIT OF LEITH; GALA DAY
The full programme for Leith Festival 2010 will be available from the start of May.
This all costs a lot of money and until this year we had enjoyed a great relationship with a number of major corporate sponsors. But the recession has hit everyone hard and we were left with a £20k gap in our funding when all our longstanding sponsors withdrew their support. For a few weeks we seriously doubted whether we would have a Festival this year.
We should have had more faith. We have been overwhelmed by generous support from all sorts of unexpected sources. Scotmid who have a number of local stores have stepped in as our major sponsor. But local business such as Welch, the local Fishmonger are now sponsoring the Art Strand and Leith Agency are taking over sponsorship of the Music Strand. City of Edinburgh Council could not have been more supportive either (praise where praise is due!)
And to cap it all our volunteers have been out and about hard selling our new gold, silver and bronze memberships throughout the community. They have had a fantastic response with well over £2000 raised so far.
Thank you everyone for your continued support!
For more information on the festival, please contact Adele Conn, Festival Manager or Heather Cameron, Assistant Festival Manager at the office 0131 555 4104
THREE LEVELS OF MEMBERSHIP FOR 2010
£10 – Bronze Membership: Intended for individuals, the cheapest membership we offer!
• Programme delivered to your door
• Name listed on the membership list on our website
£25 – Silver Membership: Intended for individuals or businesses; a moderate membership
Get the above rewards PLUS:
• Invitation to the Leith Festival VIP launch on the 10th June 2010
• A snazzy door sticker telling people you’re a member
• A ‘Leith Festival Member’ logo file to add to your emails, letterhead, or website
£50 – Gold Membership: The highest level of involvement for businesses or individuals
Get all the above rewards PLUS
• 2 for 1 selected ticket deals for a variety of Leith Festival shows and events
• Publicity at events and venues in the form of posters or on-stage thank-yous
• If you join by March 25, your name will appear on the membership list in the program