A LONG-STANDING Cumbrian festival is appealing for people to help keep it running after it ran into debt.

Solfest, which has been taking place at Tarns, near Aspatria, for the last 15 years, is launching a crowdfunding page.

The festival was on track to make a small profit this year, however in the weeks leading up to the event on August bank-holiday weekend organisers said “ticket sales were dreadfully low compared to previous years.”

This meant Solfest lost money and could not pay some artists and contributors.

A spokesman for the organising committee said: “We know there are rumours abounding that Solfest is folding and that we will liquidate. That is categorically not the case.

“If we liquidate no one would get paid and that is not something we can allow to happen. Our main priority is paying anybody that worked on the festival who has not yet been paid.

“Solfest is in debt, a rolling debt from a few years back, but it is also an amazing festival created by a family of wonderful people, from the organisers to the performers to the litter pickers - we are a Solfest family.”

The committee came up with a plan to save Solfest which includes grant applications, recruiting business sponsorship, releasing lower price loyalty tickets to guarantee short-term income, payment plans for people to commit to attending the festival while spreading the ticket cost over the year, as well as the crowdfunding.

Jim Kay, chairman of the organising committee, said: “There is a misconception that festivals are money-making machines, however this hasn’t been the case for many years and unfortunately we have seen long-standing festivals such as the Blues in Maryport fold, which is a real shame.

“The reality is that running a festival has enormous costs that start even before you book your acts – insurance, generators, toilets, contracting a security firm and a medical team, hiring marquees and stages, just to name a few. We’re lucky we have a team of loyal volunteers that help keep the costs down, but as the cost of living rises we’re having to pay more for services that once came cheaper.

“However, because we’ve always wanted Solfest to be accessible to as many people as possible, we have kept the cost of the tickets as low as we can.

“For around £200 you can get a family ticket for two adults and two children and that includes 24-hour entertainment in one of the most beautiful festival settings in the country, as well as camping and parking for three days. Because of our firm commitment to be affordable, we also let people bring their own food and drinks, which not all festivals do.

“If you think of how much it would cost a family to simply go camping for three days, it’s not a bad deal when you throw in a dedicated kids area and around 10 different live music venues.”

Solfest 2018 headliner’s included The Lightning Seeds, The Fratellis and Goldie Lookin Chain. Entertainment for children offered a dedicated kids’ area with activities for all ages, huge kite displays, teddy parachuting and Astral Circus offering shows across the weekend. The festival also offered a healing area as well as food and drink stalls.

The committee said the feedback for this year’s event was among the best in its history and it was very proud of what had been achieved. Planning for next year’s Solfest is also already underway.

Jim added: “Before Solfest started 15 years ago, people had to travel to the south of the country to go to a festival and we wanted to stop that.

“We wanted our friends, family and the wider community to be able to enjoy this experience on their doorstep. Solfest is a festival like no other in the area, it’s not about one genre or one type of crowd, it’s about everyone coming together and making memories.

“My 13-year-old daughter was only a few days old when she came to Solfest for the first time and it’s something she looks forward to year in year out. She made friends she sees every year and all our family comes together and enjoys the event with the wider Solfest-family that has grown over time.

“We really don’t want to take this event away from Cumbria because it means so much to people and now it’s time for us to ask for a helping hand. If you want Solfest to be the amazing experience it has been for so long, we need your support, whether that be a donation, the purchase of a ticket or offering your time to help us make it happen.”

To help save Solfest head to the Solfest Facebook page.