Rye Arts Festival recently held its 2022 annual general meeting at the Rye Community Centre. Around 50 members of the festival came out on a Sunday afternoon to be briefed on the 2021 results by the trustees and then enjoy a chat over a glass of wine.
The members elected David Angell as a new trustee of the festival. David brings a huge depth of knowledge of social media, and an unbridled enthusiasm for all the arts and the town of Rye. David is also part of the organising committee and provides added energy to developing the festival as one of the South East’s cultural high points. In addition, Andy Stuart was re-elected as a trustee, to join David, John Case and Linda Harland on the board.
The trustees reported on the 50th annual festival in 2021 , which was an artistic success, bringing performers and speakers of the highest quality from not just the UK but around the world to Rye last September. Many world-class musicians enjoyed their first public performances for nearly two years and were thrilled to be given a platform for their talents in Rye. However, understandable nervousness among the public meant that audience figures were down, broadly in line with figures for the rest of the UK, and the festival reported a deficit for the year of £7,236.
John Case, joint festival director, offered heart-felt thanks on behalf of the trustees to the NFU Mutual branch at Tenterden, which was the festival’s first ever headline sponsor. “We are very grateful to the NFU Mutual team for the financial support,” said John.
The festival also voiced its gratitude to all its other sponsors, private and corporate, as well as advertisers and members, whose annual subscriptions provide a financial bedrock. And John also thanked the audience for helping celebrate the 2021 festival even though the pandemic had far from disappeared.
The 2022 Festival (from September 9 to 25) is currently being worked on by the organising committee, with events to be announced in coming weeks. “Keep an eye out for announcements,” says John Case, “and check out the society’s website”
Image Credits: Rye Arts Festival .