We are Bedford are delighted to reach their WeDidThis funding goal.
The Bedford Busking Festival project closed for funding on 12th June, having raised over £500 from 26 donations.
The Bedford Busking Festival is an idea developed by community group We Are Bedford to try to develop a thriving and vibrant arts culture in our town.
We know two things: music can transform spaces and that to busk is to be both brave and creative. Our goal with this project is twofold, firstly to communicate and work with shopkeepers, market managers and the council to identify ways to encourage and positively manage busking in the town, and secondly to develop a ‘busk-force’ of quality acts who know how to perform well, safely and legally. To this end we are developing the buskers code of conduct, holding a busking school and a two-day busking festivalto launch Bedford as a Busker-friendly town.
We will expand or contract our offering depending on any funding we can attract. Our outputs will be:
- the design and print of a buskers code to include a map of busker friendly pitches alongside advice for buskers and shopkeepers;
- a ‘busking school’ event which will put experienced and novice buskers together to explore the law, best practice and to develop their acts;
- and the marketing of the busking festival itself including posters and programmes.
We have negotiated the use of five town centre pitches under the council’s performance license but will need to supplement this with a number of temporary event notices to widen the offering. We think this could have a massive impact on our town centre and the people who work play and visit it.
About We Are Bedford
We Are Bedford is a community group co-founded by two Bedford mums Kayte Judge and Erica Roffe to make things happen in the town. We want to mobilize the people of Bedford by organising events and projects that encourage community building, use existing resources, support our local businesses and build our arts scene. We met for the first time in November 2010 and in March 2011 we held our first event, the Castle Quay Weekender, a project which transformed 7 empty shops into arts venue for the weekend. We attracted over 4000 people over the course of the weekend. We have a large network of volunteers who are keen to carry on doing great things in the town.
