Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Hyndburn Borough Council have pulled funding for the Community Festivals - this includes The Wizard of Ozzy, Baxenden Bash, Go Scatty in Gatty, etc and the big Mela and Community Festival in Oakhill Park.

I'm on the committee for the Mela and Community Festival and we currently have £300 in the bank. We need about £12,000 to put on a free event similar to last year. We're in the process of applying to lots of people - Big Lottery, etc to get the funding we need.

So the question is simple - do you want these events to go ahead?

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

How can it be free when it is going to cost £12,000pds?

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

It's free to the public of Hyndburn.

That £12,000 will be sourced from places like the Big Lottery and/or Government funding. It will actually then be invested in the local area - for example, local bands who perform will be paid a fee, the stage hire is a local firm, the toilet hire is a local company, the printers who do the marketing literature are local. So by free - I mean free to people to attend.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

So when did the ground rules on lottery funding change? I always believed that lottery grants were available for investment purposes only and that any project had to display both long-term sustainability and matching direct or local funding? How can a saturday afternoon singalong in the park, led by a bunch of third-rate flunkys, match this criteria?

Have this festival by all means, but don't expect us taxpayers & lottery users to pay for it. It should not be difficult to take the risk, organise the do, charge admission & make a profit out of it. Most other festivals appear to do so, otherwise they would not reaccur. But please - if you do go ahead, keep the volume down....some of us prefer a quiet saturday afternoon instead of having to listen to that rubbish being blasted all across town.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

I thought you needed an organisation premesis to apply for a Lottery Grant. I think some festivals are good and worth spending money on... such as the Ossy Carnival and Accy Carnival, Christmas Displays etc. But I think there's so many that it gets boring now and again seeing the same old raffle stalls etc. But by all means good look with it.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

These events are fine as long as it is for the local community and that that same community benifits from it.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

I have seen the front page of the Observer about the short fall of Community money and festivals. Really I thought it was ridiculous and very typical of Hyndburn Brough Council. What I'd like to know is why is there only £300 in the pot? Where is the money and what do you spend it on? And when me and my mates organized the Community Festival in Oakhill Park with a few bands on (a few years ago) it didn't cost us £12,000. :confused:

community festivals reply.
 

simply........no.

Blame the Government not the council
 

I think you will find that its not HBC that has cut the funding for these events but HMG, I;m sure we can't expect the council to carry on with this funding without government backing. It seems that the government keep withdrawing funding and expect councils to carry on finding alternative funding as well as keeping the council tax at exceptable levels:engsmil:

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Yeah true suppose. Want more money for festivals here and there. Then council tax is going to to up!

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Yes, community spirit, civic pride, yet again.
I do think you should think about charging though, we're having a roman day here,as the last battle of boudica was here and instead of being in the town square(yes it's like trumpton) we've moved it to the carnival field. It's £5 per adult, I think thats steep, but the romans obviously don't think so. SO if your event is decent and it should be for 12,000 why not consider it.
The only council that funds anything here is the town council, usually out of the 714 pot.

Can you not involve the shops with these events?

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Events like this don't hold any interest for me so my answer is a resounding no, personally I think they are a complete waste of money.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Yeah waste of money. Unless there is some major attraction there which will get people to come. Such as McFLY performing or sommat? lol. Put a £5 charge on that and you will be rolling in it!

No1 is interested in these unknown bands these days.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Party in the park used to be good at Oakhill Park. It was a regular on my calendar every year. But for some reason it changed into the Mela in the park thing! music for the masses I suppose.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

These events don't hold any interest for me either...maybe I am the wrong age group. Pesonally i think if you attend something like this you should expect to pay a nominal charge...after all, nothing is for nothing!

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

ouch... lol

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

It would be very difficult if for example we tried to charge people to enter a public park like Rhyddings. For a start there is not just a couple of ways in. I suppose we could charge for each event but that is not the reason we want to hold events. We want to bring the whole community together and get them using the Park again. We want the Older people to enjoy it like they once did. We want the younger people to respect and look after it instead of damaging it. We want it to be free and fun for everyone. If we can manage that by taking money from organisations that want to give it to us then what is wrong with that?

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

I do use the park in Clayton.....almost on a weekly basis......but I don't want the noise or the resultant mess.....I like to use the park to contemplate, to walk.....to watch the people playing bowls......I don't go to these events because I find them noisy and they are not fun for me....but that is purely a personal opinion. What keeps me out of the park is the gangs of youths and the drinkers....if I go there and see teens hanging about then I don't go in. Maybe I am misjudging the youth, but I do find that their attitude is intimidating.
And to answer your question Neil....there is nothing wrong in taking money from orgnisations that want to promote such events.....but I think that people respect things more if they have to pay for them.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

I disagree, most of our events are free,and they are well attended and well appreciated.
Infact the classic vehicle show is getting bigger each year, it started as a few cars on the market square, now the roads get closed off, the car park gets filled, trade stands the works.
I suppose it depends what type of event it is.
Personally I dont think I should have to pay to get onto a carnival field unless it has Quality entertainment.
Hard for me to comment on your events, if I'd expect to or not cos I've never been.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

I hope you contact the Police each and every time you see them. The Police are of the opinion that the crime rate is dropping. I don not think it is. I think that people do not report crime therefore it does not become a statistic.


If you see it report it. When you do ask for the incident number and to be contacted by the relevant Police beat manager for that area so you can find out the outcome of your report.

One last point, and this is not aimed at anyone in particular. If you can't be bothered reporting it then please don't moan about it, you had your chance to do something about it and could not be bothered.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Exactly ChrisMG, I would have paid a small fee until it became too comercial and started calling it a mela, it was a shame too many idiots got involved in organizing it, keep it simple and there wouldn't have been a problem.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Did you offer your obviously expert advice, time and effort on running the event or could you not be arsed? After all it's easier to slag of those that can be bothered to get involved when it is not to your taste

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Myself and my son both enjoyed 'go scatty in gatty'. He got the chance to have a go at the climbing wall which he had never seen before. I met up with a number of people I hadn't seen for years. I also found out about community groups in my area I didn't know existed.
Although I'm not knocking Mela to me it doesn't seem to have the same atmosphere that the 'sound years' had.
But that's no reason for this borough to be deprived of them. I think they bring a bit of relief to the long summer days for those of us who can't afford to go to sunnier climes. At the end of the day there is very little to do that doesn't cost the earth, there are no longer kids clubs or punch and judy in the parks and the council has taken away yet more funding so that there is nothing left to do.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Ok maybe the word "idiots" was a bit strong but the fact is when it was not a mela costing £12000 we had a concert.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

What do you get now? I have been to the concerts before but not sure if I have been to the mela.

What is a mela anyway, googling finds some strange results.

From here


From here
I am interested to know how an out door music concert full of dope smoking p***heads was turned into an asian festival.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Wow, this has caused some debating!
I for one am in favour of these get togethers and it really bothers me that people complain about the noise. I don't want to upset anyone, but when it really comes down to it, it's just one afternoon out of the whole year. Is that really too much to handle?
One afternoon when people do gather together and enjoy themselves and get to try new things such as the climbing wall in Oak Hill last year. I would never have taken my son climbing, but he really enjoyed it and the man that was running it was really encouraging when he got a little stuck. The look on his face when he got to the top was priceless!
I'm not sure charging £5 admission would be a good idea, it would probably keep people away (unless everything inside the park would be free) I would rather there were more things like the climbing wall that we could pay for if we want to use them. Then the stallholders would be charged a fee and maybe a % of the profits could go towards the costs?
I was going to put forward pony rides as an idea (free fertilizer for the park!), but they probably wouldn't cope too well with the music AND the children!! However, I know a few people I would like to see at the top of a bungee jumping crane........:D

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

I think it was originally called Sound but that was mainly music, then it was Party in the Park which took the music but also had the community elements - i.e. funfair, arts and crafts etc. Then it became a two day thing with a Mela on one day (aimed at Asian people) and a Party in the Park on the second day (still with music and stuff). Last year it was called a Mela and Community Festival and it was held on one day. It was really good - there was no predominance of Asian or white faces it was a really good mix of the community.

This year - and the reason I asked the question like I did - it will (if we get funding) be simply a Community Festival for the whole community.

If we get funding it will be free. The reason why it should be free is so that EVERYONE is able to attend.

The reason it costs so much is stage hire (around £1,600), toilets (around £1000), live bands (around £5000 - to get bigger names they'd cost a whole lot more), insurance, circus acts, arts and crafts workshops, marquee hire, it adds up. And yes, we do charge the funfair and the foodstalls and the climbing wall a % of their taking anyway.

As for the question about Council tax going up - that is the whole reason why we are going for EXTERNAL lottery funding and not getting any from the Council this year.

The Council have stopped the funding for ALL the festivals and yet they've still managed to put the Council tax up anyway.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Bagpuss, this I find offensive. You have no idea what work goes into organising these things and the committee does it outside their regular jobs. There are six of us who turn up regularly for committee meetings and do the majority of the work - I don't think that six people over complicate things.

As for calling me an idiot - that is uncalled for, it's plain rude and unnecessary!

Each year the event evolves a little so yes, it has changed over the years. If it was exactly the same everyone would be bored by now.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Did we not have this debate in the summer of last year? I assume the Mods must be down the pub, because otherwise this thread would have been merged into this one:

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/f...highlight=mela


Although what does appear interesting is that last year's cost of 17K is only now 12K. What was the additional 5K wasted on last year?

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Yes we have had this debate last year but the reason was different.

We do not have funding to run this event this year but I am trying to get funding from the lottery. I need to identify if there is a need for this event or we will not be able to run it so that I can justify applying for money. If we do not get any funding then there will be no event because we will not be charging for it - it is a free event, always has been and always will be.

So the question is do you want one or not? I think you've made yourself pretty clear Tealeaf so you do not need to answer again.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

I shall be the judge as to whether I answer or not again. As to Summer Events in the park - I believe they are a good idea. However, rather than spending public money on stages, rock bands, insurance, etc, surely it would be better to spend the money on the parks themselves? The simple fact is there is an air of delapidation in all of Hyndburn's parks; get some investment in there and get them up to scratch and then it should not be to difficult to let a mixture of private enterprise and local voluntary groups putting on a do, at no cost to the public purse, but in the process making a little bit of money for local good causes.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

I don't think the police would be particularly interested in youths just 'hanging about' in the park....but if I saw anything related to drug use or things that were criminal then I would certainly report it.....but I don't think the police can do much about teens looking intimidating....and perhaps they are not intimidating...it just feels that way to me....and I stay away if they are congregated there.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Yes, I agree that there is a dilapidation in all of the parks but that is not the problem of the people who organise the events and should not be a barrier to holding events.

It does not cost the public purse anything - this is from the Lottery - if you don't like your money spent on this sort of event then don't buy a ticket. I think we should be getting as much lottery funding as possible into the area for as many different events as possible.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Gayle, to be honest I think that most people who buy the lottery tickets don't give a thought to what the money goes towards....they just hope to be made rich. I don't buy the lottery tickets BECAUSE of some of the very dubious causes that are supported....and I don't mean things like the Community stuff that you are looking to fund.......If you can get the money to benefit local communities then go for it. I am sure there are local people who enjoy these events....they just aren't my cup of tea.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

The answer in one word NO. You may want to organise this event, you may think it desirable, but there is definitely no need for it.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

What started off a few years ago as a good outdoor music concert in my opinion was spoilt last year because it turned into an asian orientated festival.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

exactly right. just forget it.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Agree 100%. I wouldnt go tio an 'Asain' festival if you paid me £5. Never mind charged me £5!

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Interesting maybe the mela was not as good as you thought Gayle, think about this why don't you join forces with Neil when trying for funds so Oakhill Park could have a music festival without the asian influence and go for the mela in Rhyddings Park.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Would I go to it? No.

Do I think it should go ahead, if not funded from the public purse? Yes.

Have I been to concerts and festivals in the past? Yes.

Did I have to pay, or give a minimum donation? Yes.

What would I go and sit in the park to see now? Opera on a summer's balmy evening, a brass band on a sunny afternnon, or jumping about in the mosh pit whilst watching Iggy Pop.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Thanks for all your views - so can I ask another question?

I'm hearing you loud and clear about the Asian influence - so what sort of free music festival would tempt you out - rock, pop, jazz, opera (I can see where Garinda's vote would be)?

And what other attractions would appeal - sports activities, arts/crafts, climbing walls etc?

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Hi Gayle

Well I see there is no response to why there is only £300 in the pot? and what the money was spent on? And who is in charge and can I have a seat on the committee - lol.

Oh well never mind I guess the only thing for it is to play Skeleton Park in the Arcade and eat more and go out less.


Best Wishes

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Why not in the summer Gayle... on a hot summers day, have some big speakers playing music, couple of ice cream vans, burger vans, and a bouncy castle, and hold a big barbecue, or people can bring their own barbecue or food etc and just chill out and relax in the park.

Well... thats what Id like to do anyway...

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Sorry, I thought I'd answered this - it wasn't deliberate.

There is only £300 in the pot because we spent the funding that we had last year and we haven't received any for this year yet. We are in the process of applying for funding but as yet haven't got any.

I am on the committee and we would love it if you wanted to sit on the committee it is open to everyone who wants to contribute.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

What type of music would appeal to you - we've proven that we can't appeal to everyone so what would push your buttons?

Btw - we had the bouncy castles, we had ice cream vans and burger vans and people did bring picnics.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

I have to say that I would like some light classics or even some brass band stuff...it makes me feel quite nostalgic as it seems that when i was a child my grandad took me to the park lots of times to hear the brass bands....Strauss waltzes and that kind of thing. The Asian influence Mela was not my thing at all...we can hear asian music emanating from cars any day of the week.....and while I do not wish to let anyone think that the Asian community should not have their festival.....that is not the case, it is just that I don't want to be a part of it.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Just like... pop music. Put a NOW 52 CD on or something. Cheesy fun summer songs like the Grease Megamix, Celebration, YMCA, Superman Song, you know... the old classics! And then like Margret says, a brass band or something.

And the MELA thing isnt my cup of tea either. I cant stand Asain music, and I can bet it doesnt appeal to most of the community either. Apart from the Asain community.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Here is a band that wont cost much and they aint bad. :D

http://www.dorks.com/html/Squirrel-Band-Video.html

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

There used to be brass band concerts in Rhyddings park, and there were crowds of people sat listening on sunny afternoons.

What happened to the bandstand?

I know it was wooden, and quite futuristic in design, did the vandals get it?

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Proberly wrecked by vandels and as a result removed for saftey and eyesore reasons. Its sad that the facilities of all public places seem to be targets for a minority denying the majority the pleasure they bring.

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Well I heard yesterday that we (Hyndburn Community Festival Association - I'm the treasurer) have got the funding we applied for - this is from outside of Hyndburn Borough Council - it is from Local Community Network Fund. The festival is safe.

Now, I know some of you didn't appreciate the overly Asian slant on the music so I can reassure you that there will be more of a pop element to it and we might even rename it to reflect that.

The letter regarding the festivals in the paper was absolute nonsense but is now completely irrelevant because I've secured the funding from elsewhere, we don't need to get any from Hyndburn Borough Council and it can go on!

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Well done Gayle.... instead of talking, action. Just as it should be!

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Congratulations Gayle, I will be there no matter what.
It would be great to see the Red Arrows do a fly-past if you can arrange it - they do it free of charge over your event if it's on the way to wherever they're going or they're already up in the air for something else!
http://www.raf.mod.uk/reds/downloads.html

They're in Aberystwyth on Sat 19th August, but down South on 20th. Still, I suppose it's worth a try.
Definately like to see the climbing wall again along with the bouncy slide which is always a winner with my kids, maybe pop music and a I do like a brass band. Have to say, I'm not that bothered about seeing 'live' bands unless they're really good (some of them should have paid YOU for the chance to appear!), just stick some tunes on the PA system and I'm good.
I've asked the family for suggestions too, if they come up with anything good I'll post again!

Re: Should there be Community Festivals?
 

Nice one Gayle. Good things come to those who wait or in your case the never say never attitude. Hope the town are proud of you and your "squads" efforts. :D