Frome Festival starts in just over a month's time. The brochure is available and the famous Tunnel Tours sold out within minutes of tickets going on sale. It's a great asset to the town, but it's under threat. The organisers have warned that unless income increases, this could be the last one. That would be a tragedy for a community with such a lively cultural scene.
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The festival embraces music (of all genres), theatre, the visual arts and literature, plus walks, talks, workshops and open gardens. The programming is varied and imaginative - but mostly within what you might call a middle-class, middlebrow artistic policy. Why not take some open-air performances to the housing estates on the edge of town, rather than restrict shows to the usual central venues? Street theatre won't make pots of money, far from it. But it might well produce oodles of goodwill. And at times like this, PR can be as important as cash in hand.
www.fromefestival.co.uk
Could the 'sold out within minutes' Tunnel Tours (sounds intriguing) charge a little more to increase funds for future years?
ReplyDeleteGood point!
ReplyDeleteFrome is riddled with mysterious tunnels, the purpose of which of has never quite been ascertained....