Lowestoft Seafront Air Festival
Lowestoft Seafront Air Festival 2013
The Directors and Committee of the Lowestoft Air Festival met on Friday 21st September 2012 to decide whether an airshow could be held in 2013. Unfortunately they decided that as their financial position had not improved sufficiently, it definitely cannot go ahead.
The income from this years show has been insufficent to pay all the bills. We have had to use our reserves in the wet weather contingency fund to balance the books. This fund is now so low which is why we cannot consider doing a show next year. Without this fund in place, or a sizable underwriting facility, it would be financially irresponsible to have a show next year. If we had one or two wet days again, or if people decided not to support us, we would not be able to pay everyone if we had nothing to call on!
The Air Festival Committee wanted to set the record straight that contrary to the belief of some people, the air festival is not run by Waveney District Council, although WDC has fully supported staging the event.
They also wanted to set the record straight that the group consisted totally of volunteers and no one was paid in any way.
Reviewing some of the achievements of the event they reported that:
The Lowestoft Air Festival has become East Anglias biggest event and it had succeeded in securing the Red Arrows for 14 out of the last 16 years - something quite unique.
An independent survey carried out two years ago reported that the local economy had benefited either directly or indirectly to the tune of 11million from the Air Festival.
Local charities have also gained a massive 250,000 over the past ten years and many local groups have survived as a result of these donations.
. By staging such a large event, it aided tourism awareness for the Waveney Valley and the East Coast and gave a reason to visit the area.
They also reported that the cost of putting on the Air Festival was approximately 300,000 per annum and yet the charge per person was only 3. Their income is in the main from traders sponsors and advertisers (100,000); sales, merchandising and car parking etc. 50 60,000; and the remainder comes from the bucket collection or attendance fees from the general public.
This year it was unfortunate and a great shame that so many people decided not to contribute as requested. Remarkably, by comparison, events such as the Norfolk and Suffolk shows charge in the region of 19 per person, plus the cost of car parking.
In reaching this decision, the directors had also investigated a number of ways to improve their finances including underwriting, sponsorship, out-of-event fundraising, event loss insurance and, of course, trimming down the air display itself. Regrettably, they have not been able to reach the required target at this time, achieving just 50% of the 60K total needed to underwrite the event.
The group would also like to sincerely thank all those many thousands of people, businesses and charities who have supported them over many years.
The directors and committee are determined not to lose the expertise they have collectively amassed or lose the knowledge of the emergency services and sea safety team. They have pledged to stick together in the hope that funds are forthcoming in future years which could enable the air festival to be resurrected.
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