Festival hailed a huge success

1:07pm Wednesday 2nd July 2008

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Toyah Willcox and Dr and the Medics, supported by Mid-life Crisis with their rocking Reverend, brought to a close a record-breaking two weeks of music and arts in the Dales.

The 2008 Grassington Festival has been hailed a huge success, with audience numbers up by 12 per cent.

"Thanks to the support of Skipton Building Society, the Craven Herald, all our sponsors, patrons, volunteers and audience, we have been able to produce a wonderful programme of events," said Joan Haspel, chairman of the festival committee.

"The Tarmac' beach in the main square was received particularly well. It required a huge amount of co-ordination, but has attracted many visitors and I am pleased that the parish council is going to keep and maintain the beach throughout the summer."

Art and About - the visual arts strand - also proved successful, with particular focus falling on the festival's artist in residence who worked with schools and ran workshops throughout the two weeks.

The Tibetan monks, who were resident in Grassington for the last week of the festival, were overwhelmed by the attendance at the moving destruction ceremony of their sand mandala.

"It was a delight to see so many people appreciating a culture unfamiliar to their own," said Art and About director Helen Peyton. "It has been a privilege to work with the monks this week and their presence in the village will certainly create some lasting memories."

The festival team will be taking a well-deserved break before starting work on the 2009 programme.

Director Amelia Vyvyan said: "Our 2008 audience numbers are up 12 per cent which is fantastic news, so we must be doing something right. I can't thank everyone involved in the festival enough, so many people gave freely of their precious time to make the event happen. And I have received such positive feedback from the artistes how friendly and welcoming Grassington is.

"We now have the challenge of putting together a programme for next year that builds on that success, but I am confident that when the festival opens on June 19 2009 there will be something in the schedule to delight everyone."

Details of the 2009 programme will be available on the festival website, grassington-festival.org.uk, later this year. Anyone interested in assisting the festival in any way can contact the organisers via the website.