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to take their cut now.”
Not only did the council not give their usual
funding, it also charged the festival some
£800 for the use of council amenity land.
And on top of that, it asked every stallholder
on that land for a trading licence. “That
costs £75 plus endless admin per stall.”
The past three weeks have been, she says,
a nightmare. These unforeseen costs came
on top of other new rules and regulations
involved with running a big event, which
have changed over the year.
“At the end of the day we need to make
enough money to pay for the event, and if
we don’t we won’t be able to run it. That
would be very sad.”
Debbie finds it “rather contradictory”
that it is the Department of Economic
Development and Tourism which have
withdrawn their support, and that this,
coupled with the Council’s additional
charges, has put the festival in jeopardy. “I
thought they wanted to increase tourism,”
she says. She guesses about 25,000 to
30,000 people pass through, via coach, car
and boat, from the mainland and abroad.
The festival acts as an ambassador for the
Isle of Wight to people from far and wide.
Debbie contrasts the council’s financial
impositions to the largesse of the festival’s
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sponsors. “Wightlink is marvellous, they
do so