Festival 'even more uncertain' amid funding row

The festival in late October celebrates the beginning of the darker half of the year

Organisers of a festival which has made a loss for the past five years say without extra council funding its future is "even more uncertain".

Eden Arts said it needed at least an extra £15,000 to meet the rising costs of Cumbria's Winter Droving in Penrith, but claimed Westmorland and Furness Council had not provided extra support it was expecting.

The event, in its 13th year, is a torch-lit procession watched for free by tens of thousands of people in the town.

The council said it had maintained the core funding to Eden Arts of £20,000 and this had not been reduced.

The Winter Droving has brought more than 235 Cumbrian musicians and performers to Penrith and £12m into the local economy since it started in 2012, organisers say.

But Eden Arts Director Adrian Lochhead said getting the council funding needed had become more "difficult to navigate".

'Very shocked'

The organisation has already begun a "Big Give" appeal to ensure the future of the event.

In addition, local newspaper the Cumberland & Westmorland Herald has offered £15,000, but Mr Lochhead said the festival could lose £30,000 this year.

"We are very shocked to be in this position," he said.

"However if it is to be the last one in Penrith we are determined to make it a great one."

A spokesperson for Westmorland and Furness Council said: "Last year, in addition to the core funding of £20,000, which has not been reduced in 2024/25, Eden Arts was awarded a one-off payment of £25,000 from the council’s Culture Recovery Support Fund.

"The council has repeatedly made clear that this was never intended to be recurring funding."

They added it would be "incorrect" to suggest specific funding had been "cut", as it "was never allocated for 2024/25".