Around 40 Members of Rye Arts Festival braved the cold and rain last Sunday afternoon to attend the annual general meeting at the Rye Community Centre.
And they were met with the heartening news that, against all the odds, the festival was able to make a surplus in 2022. Despite the last-minute cancellation on September 8 of several events due to the queen dying on the eve of the festival; the train strikes preventing a number of artistes from all around the UK making the trip to Rye, with a combination of careful cost control, the huge generosity of sponsors and some artistes waiving their fees despite the cancellations, a surplus of just over £4,000 was reported. Following losses incurred during the pandemic, this will help put the charity’s finances back on a firm and sustainable footing.
The meeting was chaired initially by Dr Linda Harland, who stood down after half-a-dozen years as a trustee, and who made an impassioned plea for new blood to become trustees or join the organising committee which actually puts the festival together and runs it. Linda was particularly eager for women to put themselves forward.
And the great news was that the penultimate act of the meeting, before adjourning for a chat over a glass of wine, was the unanimous election of Mike Boyd and Arabella Ansar as new trustees.
Mike, Rye born and bred, is a town councillor and recent mayor of Rye, as well as being at the heart of the cultural community of Rye, being a trustee of Rye Arts Gallery and also Rye Museum, as well as chair of Rye Country Fair, and proprietor of Rye Pianolas, which he runs from the old EH Chandlers’ shop in Landgate. He was also on the Rye Arts Festival organising committee back in the days when Kate Davson was chair, so brings a huge depth of knowledge and experience to the team.
Arabella is a committed and vocal advocate for Rye and everything that goes on in it. She set up A Rye Good Time, which has a brilliant new app promoting all events and businesses in the town. She has brought and organised the Rye Window Wanderland to the town and was recently appointed the deputy town crier of Rye – the first woman in East Sussex to hold such a role!
Work is already well underway behind the scenes on the 52nd annual Rye Arts Festival which will be help between September 15 and 30, 2023.
For more information or to become a member go online www.rysartsfestival.org.uk
Image Credits: Rye Arts Festival .