Some great news for Folk Week

Broadstairs Folk Week is to receive £59,420 from second round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund 

• Broadstairs Folk Week among more than 2,700 recipients to benefit from the latest round of awards from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund  
• This award will help Broadstairs Folk Week to reset the festival for 2021 in view of the requirements for a safe environment for all festival goers.  

Broadstairs Folk Week in Broadstairs has received a grant of £59,420 from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help the organisation recover and reopen.  

Broadstairs Folk Week is a registered charity and not for profit organisation. The grant will be used to support the festival to ensure that it takes place in a safe environment. Folk Week usually takes a year to organise and this grant will help us with operational costs that otherwise we would not be able to finance as we have lost a year of ticket and fund-raising income.

More than £300 million has been awarded to thousands of cultural organisations across the country including Broadstairs Folk Week in the latest round of support from the Culture Recovery Fund, the Culture Secretary announced today. 

Over £800 million in grants and loans has already been awarded to support almost 3,800 cinemas, performance venues, museums, heritage sites and other cultural organisations dealing with the immediate challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The second round of awards made today will help organisations to look ahead to the spring and summer and plan for reopening and recovery. After months of closures and cancellations to contain the virus and save lives, this funding will be a much-needed helping hand for organisations transitioning back to normal in the months ahead.   

Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said: 

“Our record breaking Culture Recovery Fund has already helped thousands of culture and heritage organisations across the country survive the biggest crisis they’ve ever faced.  

Now we’re staying by their side as they prepare to welcome the public back through their doors – helping our cultural gems plan for reopening and thrive in the better times ahead.” 

 Lee Wellbrook, Chairman of Broadstairs Folk Week, said: We were so sad to cancel the 2020 Broadstairs Folk Week and disappoint our loyal festival goers. It has been running for over 54 years without a break until this terrible pandemic hit the UK. We would like to thank all our loyal supporters who have continued to become Friends of Folk Week and make donations to the festival and this award from the Cultural Recovery Fund shows that Broadstairs Folk Week is valued by the Arts Council England as an important contributor to the arts in England. 

 Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair, Arts Council England, said: “Investing in a thriving cultural sector at the heart of communities is a vital part of helping the whole country to recover from the pandemic. These grants will help to re-open theatres, concert halls, and museums and will give artists and companies the opportunity to begin making new work.   

We are grateful to the Government for this support and for recognising the paramount importance of culture to our sense of belonging and identity as individuals and as a society.” 

The funding awarded today is from a £400 million pot which was held back last year to ensure the Culture Recovery Fund could continue to help organisations in need as the public health picture changed. The funding has been awarded by Arts Council England, as well as Historic England and National Lottery Heritage Fund and the British Film Institute.