Future looks brighter for Ludlow's arts festival (From Ludlow Advertiser)

Future looks brighter for Ludlow's arts festival

8:00am Saturday 2nd February 2013 in News

THE Friends of Ludlow Festival is set to reform.

When it was announced that the 2012 Ludlow Festival was the last in its current format the 2,000 strong group had to dissolve itself.

But now it is back in business having set up as a charitable business with the name The Friends of Ludlow Arts Festival.

The next step will be to register as a charity but this can only happen when the group has £5,000 to put into a bank account.

Diane Lyle, who was chairman of the old Friends, has been elected to the same position with the new group and is excited at the prospects.

A plan to take the organisation forward will be released in the coming weeks but it appears that it will be broader based than in the past and help support the arts more generally.

“We will reveal our plans in the near future when we are in a position to be more precise,” said Diane.

“It has been a big job because we have had to completely reform and largely start from scratch.

“However, there are many people from the old friends who have expressed an interest in being involved in the new group and we shall be contacting them.”

She has indicated that the hope is that the new friends will have a wider remit to support the arts in Ludlow and the surrounding area.

It has already been announced that there will be a commercially based festival event at Ludlow Castle in the summer of 2013.

A commitment has also been made that the Festival Fringe will also be staged again this year.

Ludlow Festival, pictured was staged with a major Shakespeare play at the castle, came to an end after a financially disastrous 2012 when the event was badly hit by the weather.

Heavy rain forced the cancellation of a fully booked Friday evening performance and this put the final nail in the coffin of the festival that has struggled to make ends meet for most of the past decade.