Final days for Northumberland festival's fund-raising drive

Lindisfarne Festival has secured its first acts for 2018 as it closes in on its £70,000 crowdfunding target as well as a Crowdfunder record.
Lindisfarne Festival 2017. Picture by Jane ColtmanLindisfarne Festival 2017. Picture by Jane Coltman
Lindisfarne Festival 2017. Picture by Jane Coltman

With it’s all or nothing crowdfunding campaign drawing to a close next week, the festival has revealed the first wave of acts it has lined up for the three-day music, arts and wellness festival, which is hoped will return to the north Northumberland coast from August 30 to September 2, 2018.

Despite a successful event this year, which saw a 38 per cent increase in attendees and resulted in two UK Festival Award nominations, organisers firmly stated that the festival would only be guaranteed to return for its fourth consecutive year if they could obtain a minimum of £70,000 funding via Crowdfunder to help cover some of the upfront costs for the 2018 event.

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Offering festival-goers the benefit of heavily discounted tickets and exclusive reward packages, the six-week campaign, which ends at 7pm on Tuesday, was launched last month to help secure the future of the independent festival, which relies heavily on early ticket sales in order to secure its 100-strong line-up of local and world renowned acts.

Conleth Maenpaa, founder of Lindisfarne Festival, said: “With only a few days until our Crowdfunder deadline, this really is make or break for the festival. As a largely self-funded event, we set the crowdfunding campaign up this year to ensure we have the funds to cover some of the expenses for the 2018 festival, as we cannot shoulder the financial burden alone anymore.

“There comes a point when we have to lay it on the table and ask for support to make sure the show can go on. We wanted to be as transparent as possible and allow the public to see what is required in order for the festival to go again.

“We’re doing very well, but we’re still a few thousand pounds shy of our target needed to proceed with next year’s festival. If we can hit £70,000 by Tuesday, not only will Lindisfarne Festival 2018 be full speed ahead – we’ll also break a Crowdfunder record, officially making us the most successfully crowdfunded festival.”

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Acts already geared up to perform at next year’s festival include the newly-reformed Detroit Social Club, Bessie & the Zinc Buckets, Bombskare, Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5, and Hip Hop Hooray. Should the festival reach its fundraising target next week, the full line-up will be announced early next year.

Previous acts who have played at the festival, which takes place at Beal Farm overlooking Holy Island, include The Fratellis, The View, Reef, British Sea Power, Reverend & the Makers, Craig Charles, and Norman Jay MBE.