Lincoln arts festival seeks crowd funding

A new community festival for Lincoln wants people to put their hands in their pockets and pledge pounds to help make it happen.

A team of volunteers has been planning the Lincoln Inspired arts festival, which will take place from May 7 to 12 next year. It will feature various arts events and have an emphasis on words, both written and spoken.

But it will only happen if a fundraising drive will help pay for it.

“Everyone is facing tough times at the moment and that is what makes taking a break and enjoying listening to a speaker, watching a play, having a go at painting a mask or hearing live music so important,” said arts consultant Sara Bullimore, who is leading the Lincoln Inspired festival.

“But the economic climate means it’s much more difficult to get the grants or big sponsorship deals which can help to offset the cost of organising community events, so we’ve tried to take a different approach to funding it.

“That’s why we’ve come up with our Pledge Programme – the idea is to encourage individuals, organisations and companies to give amounts from as little as £5 which will go into the pot to make the idea of a community-focused festival, where everyone can be involved, a reality.”

The festival officially launched on November 1, day one of Pledge Month, and people can get on the festival website, which has details of all the ways to donate, and the rewards available for those willing to help.

They include the chance of a personalised poem written by Lincolnshire Poet Laureate Joel Stickley, the festival’s spoken word patron, for a £250 pledge, down to a mention on the festival’s online roll of honour, the List of Lovelies, for £5.