The Boo launches crowd-funder for Waterford Wakes

Waterfoot Wakes is launching a Crowdfunder campaign on Monday 28th June, to raise much needed funds in order to bring the festival back and make it free for everyone to attend.

The festival has been running since 2018 as a partnership between The Boo, The Old Library Café and Edgeside and District Community Partnership. It has replaced The Boo’s Puppet Festival, taking the family focus and expanding it into a community arts festival that takes place across Waterfoot.

The 2020 festival had been set to be the biggest yet, but when The Boo had to take the devastating decision to cancel it, they took the time to really focus on what made the festival great and how could come back even better in 2021. One idea that came up repeatedly, was that the festival should be completely free to everyone to enjoy.

Rossendale, Lancashire and the Northwest have been the biggest impacted regions during the pandemic, and families have greatly suffered through loss of income. Added to this, the social impact on children and young people, it is more important now than ever to have a community-based arts festival to bring together families and the wider Rossendale community, and that the festival is accessible to everyone.

However, to make the festival free for everyone, Waterfoot Wakes needs support! It costs more than £10,000 to stage the festival, which in past years has brought acts like Circus Raj, Little Angel Theatre and Clive Chandler’s Punch and Judy to Waterfoot. To help raise money for these costs, The Boo is launching a Crowdfunder, with the aim to make the festival free entry for everyone.

Any Crowdfunder pledges will go directly towards the cost of programming the festival and paying for the artists who will perform during the festival. By raising money now through crowd funding, it will not only ensure that the event can run in 2021, but also that it will continue for many more years to come!

The festival is looking to raise £3,500 towards the running and programming costs of the festival and has lots of fantastic rewards for donors including vintage Horse + Bamboo tour posters and merchandise, business sponsorship and food and drink vouchers to be used during the festival. With more rewards to be added throughout the campaign. The campaign is also looking for support from local business in the way of the donation of rewards.

This year’s festival will run slightly differently, to ensure that we can continue to run the festival safely for our audiences the festival will take place over the entire month of August, with tonnes of events and workshops happening throughout. Hoping that a whole month of family-focused, free events happening in Rossendale, will bring local families that ‘Holiday At Home’ feeling – and some well-deserved days out this Summer to look forward to!

Highlights for Waterfoot Wakes 2021 will include: Clive Chandler’s Punch and Judy; Half String Theatre’s Puppet Van; Paper Balloon’s The Great Floating Paper Balloon Radio Show; The Boo’s Comedy Night with Tez Ilyas; Circus Workshops; Compact Disco; and SO many more to be announced over the course of their crowdfunder!

Horse + Bamboo are also co-commissioning Analogue Farm, to create a live, promenade installation performance taking place at Analogue Farm in Whitworth over a weekend in August. The performance will be based on children’s book Mid Summer With Mossy which has also been commissioned by Horse + Bamboo and created by David Chatton Barker of Analogue Farm. The book is available as one of the rewards along with the first book in the series Mid Winter With Mossy.

Supporters of the crowdfunder, are helping Horse + Bamboo to support the creation of new work from Rossendale artists.

Waterfoot Wakes brings hundreds of people to Waterfoot and Rossendale across the festival, boosting the local economy with local businesses benefiting from the increased footfall. Along with this, the festival supports many emerging local artists giving them valuable experience and opportunity to perform.

In 2019, The Boo’s Young Musicians’ Award granted one local emerging artist, a spot to perform on The Waterfoot Wakes’ Main Stage. This year, the festival will be hosting a young person-led, variety evening, giving the young people of Rossendale the opportunity to perform and perfect their talents of any genre! Help to continue to support, give them opportunities and provide you with a fantastic multi-arts festival by supporting the Crowdfunder.

The Waterfoot Wakes Crowdfunder will run from Monday 28th June – Friday 23rd July and is looking to raise £3,500 towards the programming costs of the festival. Support this fantastic festival by donating now at: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/waterfootwakes If you would like to donate a reward, please get in touch with the team at [email protected]