Our event will not be going ahead in 2013.
A lack of funding is behind
the decision to put the event on ice this year.
Dan Thompson, whose company Kaos Production Ltd created, produced and invested heavily in the annual event, said
that the event’s public funding had been pulled and therefore the Festival
could not continue.
He said: “We’re sorry to say
that we can’t put on our Festival in 2013 because we have no public funding,
and that’s a real shame for The Barbican, for Plymouth and for the region.
“In half a decade, we’ve
built a reputation for a quality event on the Waterfront that attracted
visitors from beyond the city and across the Channel to enjoy what Plymouth has
to offer. This year, that won’t happen.
“I hope to get something
rolling for 2014, with aspirations for the City of Culture bid and beyond,” he
said.
The Festival, which started life in the quayside quarter of
Plymouth in 2008, raises income from ticket sales, advertising and sponsorship
deals, but uses public money to place high quality free music shows on the
streets of The Barbican.
The event attracts thousands
of visitors to the Barbican each summer, presenting excellent live music on
outdoor stages and within participating venues, creating vibrancy, colour and
fun. It’s one of the city’s best loved, accessible music events.
Images of the Festival and
its musicians are regularly used to illustrate Plymouth culture, displaying
packed crowds of all ages enjoying the Barbican and its atmosphere.
Last year the Festival
partnered with Plymouth’s Classic Boat Rally and the Port of Plymouth Regatta
to make a July bonanza of boating and great sounds. Musicians were put afloat
for ocean-going gigs, expanding the event’s reach into Plymouth Sound.
However, the Barbican will
be a quieter place this summer without the Festival. Plymouth City Council, which
had supported the event with funding since 2009, cannot continue the funding
and promised funds from the newly-formed Plymouth Waterfront Partnership, have
not materialized in time for an event in 2013.
