Three of the Festival Trustees recently visited Tom Gordon, the new Member of Parliament for the area. We outlined the history and ethos of the Festival to him and discussed ways of accessing new funding sources now that local government support has as good as ceased.
He recently published the following press release which also contains comments from our Chairman, Paul Dutton.
"In Parliament yesterday (27th February), Tom raised an issue originally highlighted to him by a local Harrogate and Knaresborough organisation, namely funding for performing arts. During a recent visit to The Harrogate Competitive Festival for Music, Speech & Drama, they raised the funding issues they have faced since local authority funding for the performing arts was withdrawn in 2016.
The Harrogate Competitive Festival for Music, Speech & Drama supports local children and young people in Harrogate and Knaresborough to grow in confidence through performing, as well as boosting people’s skills. They have operated for nearly 90 years, are run by volunteers and offer 250 different classes and categories as part of their operations. Their competitions regularly have over 800 entries yearly, with over 1,300 children taking part.
Tom asked the Minister (Lucy Powell, Leader of the House of Commons) whether she would make time for a debate on the importance of performing arts and on expanding Government funding for them, to help build children’s confidence and skills.
In response, the Minister said that she knew how important it is for children to gain experience performing and being assessed. She mentioned the boosting of local government funding by the Government, and said that they were looking at how they can support culture and a creative curriculum for young people.
Commenting, Tom said:
“This is what being an MP is all about – raising awareness for Harrogate and Knaresborough and the great organisations that support local people and culture.
“Today I raised an important issue brought to me by constituents – the funding of performing arts. They are easy to overlook, but participating can be an enormous confidence and skills boost for children, helping them as they grow up.
“I look forward to continuing to work with local organisations, raising awareness and supporting them to continue to deliver for local people.”
Paul Dutton, Chairman of Harrogate Competitive Festival for Music, Speech & Drama, added:
"Past competitors have gone on to pursue high flying careers within the arts.
Included in the many are Oliver Briscombe, who recently secured his first film role starring alongside Ralph Fiennes, Amara Okereke a principal lead soloist in West End musicals, William Dutton who won the BBC Young Musicians String Final, Paul Lunn who has sung and acted across the world and Claire Marsden who recently played at the Proms Concerts in London.
These and many others say that the Festival provided a supportive environment that encouraged and built confidence in both their performance and life skills." "
This is helpful support for the work of the Festival. The 2025 Festival starts on Friday at 6pm.
Alan Connell
Treasurer
