Introduction
We'd like to welcome you to the 30th Anniversary Lunenburg Folk
Harbour Festival in beautiful, oceanside Nova Scotia, Canada. We’re
a small town festival with a big time reputation: quality, professional music
in a stunning, heritage location. Over
the years we’ve worked hard to ensure our audiences go home happy, and we think
we’ve done very well. Could we do
better? Yes we could. Let’s start with the chairs. We could use your help. That’s the reason for this campaign.
The Pitch
If you’ve ever attended the Lunenburg
Folk Harbour Festival then you know that each Main Stage performance, in the big
tent high on Blockhouse Hill on a warm August evening, is a magical experience. If you haven’t visited us yet then plan your
trip to the Nova Scotia seaside for August 6 to 9 this summer. You'll enjoy four days and nights of amazing music for a very low price.
Our audiences love our music. Over the years we’ve presented hundreds of
stellar professional musicians from across Canada, the United States and
further afield and we’ve made a name as one of this country’s leading music
festivals.
Musicians love us, too - even more so
since we recently upgraded the tent, the stage and the sound system. Artists tell us that our audiences are fully
engaged and appreciative. It is a truly
intimate affair.
We’re the first to admit however – our
chairs could be better. They’re hard and
close together. They’re borrowed from local
schools. We would like to change
that. We’d like to upgrade the seating
for all 1,000 seats and if we reach our goal we’ll be able to do that. If we double our initial goal we can provide
a large video screen to live stream performances. That will improve the view
and experience from almost every seat in the house.
We’re a non-profit, community-run
organization made possible entirely through the contributions of hundreds of hard-working volunteers and generous supporters. We want to invite you to join that crowd as
we prepare for our 30th and raise funds for improvements. You can play your part by doing two things:
1.
Make a contribution – large or
small – they all add up; and
2.
Ask your friends and family to
support us too.
What We Need
We are a non-profit organization. Tickets sales alone do not cover the expenses of putting on the Festival. As a matter of fact they account for only about 40% - basically the costs for the performers. Than means we have to fund all of our site costs - tent, sound system, seating, security, etc. - through other means.
We need our audience to be able to sit
in comfort, to have an experience of music that transcends the realities of
everyday strains, woes and worries. Our main stage tent is busy each night so we can’t guarantee you’ll be able to sit
in your favorite place. You’ll have to
help yourself there by showing up early. But we can provide more comfortable chairs and make the effort to ensure better viewing for all. When we are
able to add a large screen live-streaming video beside the stage, you won’t just see the musicians, with
close-up camera shots, you’ll witness the musicianship.
Those improvements cost money. So here’s how we intend to use the money
you help us raise:
· When we raise $6,000 we will
provide roomier, "lawn-style” chairs with arms throughout the entire venue.
·
If we are able to raise $12,000
we will be able to add a live-stream video screen.
Whatever we raise will go to improving the experience of our Festival Main Stage. We will go as far as we can in making improvements this year and if we exceed the amount required for the chairs and video screen, then we will apply the extra funds toward the ever-escalating other site costs.
What You Get
What do you get? Well if you are in the audience this August you will, of course, be among the first beneficiaries of the campaign. You’ll go home with a more comfortable body and a host of musical memories as a
result. If you don’t make it here this
summer then we hope you will visit us in the future.
Regardless, you can get some really nice
perks when you help us out – whether you attend or not. You can also take pride in knowing you've made it a more comfortable experience for those who do attend, and you have their gratitude.
Risks & Challenges
We don’t want to raise expectations and
then disappoint anybody. So, we want to be open with you about what it takes
to make the Main Stage experience what it is.
Our site costs are escalating every year - even without the improvements we want to introduce this year. We upgraded our tent, stage and sound system the year before last. Those additions increased our site costs, but also greatly improved the experience for both the audience and the performers. The cost of those improvements are increasing this year and we've been informed they will increase again next year. Now, we are hoping to improve the seating and viewing.
We will go as far in upgrading the
experience this year as the funds raised in this campaign will allow. If we
exceed the requirements for the proposed improvements, we will apply the extra
funds toward the escalating annual sites costs for the new tent, stage and
sound system.
Then we will need to sustain our funding
levels next year – from all sources – in order to keep these improvements next
year.
We appreciate your time and interest in our
project, and we understand that everyone can’t contribute, but that doesn’t mean
you can’t help.
We work hard to keep ticket prices
accessible to everyone, especially our younger audience members. So, we are
asking those who can to contribute more, so those who can’t are still able to
participate.
You can help by 1) contributing what is
comfortable for you, and 2) telling others about the Festival and the
fundraising campaign.
Please help us get the word out about what
we do and what we need. Share this site with your friends and family and anyone
you know who may be interested in preserving and supporting traditional music
and musicians in Nova Scotia. Let’s make
more more musical memories by the sea!