Festival lifeline grant from Government’s Culture Recovery Fund

Shrewsbury Folk Festival has been awarded £93,000 as part of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) to help face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and to ensure they have a sustainable future, the Culture Secretary has announced today.

The four-day annual event is one of 1,385 cultural and creative organisations across the country receiving urgently needed support. £257 million of investment has been announced today as part of the very first round of the Culture Recovery Fund grants programme being administered by Arts Council England. Further rounds of funding in the cultural and heritage sector are due to be announced over the coming weeks.

The funding will help with the festival’s on-going running costs as it plans its 2021 event and will support the implementation of the relevant measures to ensure the safety of festivalgoers attending next year.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “This funding is a vital boost for the theatres, music venues, museums and cultural organisations that form the soul of our nation. It will protect these special places, save jobs and help the culture sector’s recovery.

“These places and projects are cultural beacons the length and breadth of the country. This unprecedented investment in the arts is proof this government is here for culture, with further support to come in the days and weeks ahead so that the culture sector can bounce back strongly.”

Chair, Arts Council England, Sir Nicholas Serota, said: “Theatres, museums, galleries, dance companies and music venues bring joy to people and life to our cities, towns and villages. This life-changing funding will save thousands of cultural spaces loved by local communities and international audiences. Further funding is still to be announced and we are working hard to support our sector during these challenging times.”

Festival Director Sandra Surtees said: “We are very excited and grateful to have received this grant. It will allow us to lay on the same fabulous festival that we always do with the necessary measures in place to ensure the wellbeing of our festival family.

“Being able to bring such an incredible variety of live music to Shrewsbury every year is a huge honour and we’re delighted that the contribution we make to local culture and the economy has been recognised with the award of this grant.”