Rye Arts Festival conjured an excellent set of financials for 2014, making a profit despite initially expecting a small loss. Attendees at a busy annual general meeting at Rye Community Centre last Sunday [February 1], were entertained by magician Bertie Pearce as a curtain raiser. The main event was the revelation that, despite increased costs to cover an online ticket booking system, an entirely new website and additional branding, the festival actually turned in a £4,000 profit.
Festival chairman Ian Graham-Bryce and treasurer Mary Howse were roped in as glamorous assistants to help Pearce warm up the audience with some old-fashioned magic involving mind reading and skipping ropes. But the reports to the AGM that followed were possibly even more crowd-pleasing.
The positive financial performance was not a magic trick, but the result of sheer hard work, sound planning and a finger on the pulse, to deliver what the public wanted. There were more events in the 2014 programme and, most importantly, more tickets were sold. Increased audience numbers meant greater revenue, as did the generosity of businesses and private individuals through increased sponsorship donations, as well as grants from Rye Town Council and Rother District Council.
Graham-Bryce thanked all for their continuing support of the festival, and highlighted a strong focus on innovation last year. “We had a quartet in residence for a week who, among a series of fantastic ticketed concerts, delivered an innovative Beer and Beethoven free gig in the Queen’s Head,” he said. “We also provided a free event on the opening Friday night with tickets to the gig available to all. We worked closely with the new Rye Studio School, inviting a couple of students on to the Committee and supporting their fabulous fashion show. And we sourced a fantastic exhibition at the Rye Museum of documents, pictures and artefacts from Rye’s long and rich past that are normally held in Lewes.”
There was some sadness as it was announced that Geoff Boudreau would stand down from the committee after many years of unstinting and dedicated work. Boudreau intends to spend more time on business, with his family and sorting out his handicap on local golf courses as well as continuing to chair Rye Community Centre. Richard Marsh will take over on the committee as the public face of the contemporary music section of the festival. However, Boudreau will continue to be a member, with Marsh, of the self-styled Gang of Four – not the aging socialist punk rockers from Leeds or Madame Mao’s confreres, but the behind-the scenes sub-committee that puts together the eclectic contemporary programme.
This year’s festival will open on Friday September 11 with a free contemporary music gig at Rye Community Centre. There will also be an opera from Euphonia, who provided last year’s fabulous La Traviata, and a full daily programme of events that will run until Sunday September 27. More information on the 2015 festival will appear on the website and it can be followed on Twitter @ryearts.
Photos: Rye Studio School, main image, top, and Kenneth Bird