Thousands of people attended yesterday’s hugely successful Kirkstall Festival. Community reporter Andy Parnham already finds festival volunteers looking ahead to next year’s landmark community event …
Kirkstall Festival describes itself as probably the largest community festival in Leeds run entirely by volunteers.
The Festival is held annually in the grounds of Kirkstall Abbey. This Saturday saw the 39th Festival take place. It was a huge success, yet already the volunteers who run the Festival are hoping to make next year something even more special!
Volunteer Richard Honey, 68, of Abbey Avenue said:
“It’s Kirkstall Festival but it actually is a festival really for the whole of West Leeds, and across Leeds. We’ve even had a woman today from LA.
Richard says he is “a small cog in a very large wheel”. He helps by organising programme sales on the day, and his team of fellow volunteers bring in valuable income to help towards the various costs of the festival, including the fees for performers.
Next year sees the Festival celebrate its 40th anniversary. He said:
“We’ll probably make something special out of that.”
To make that happen Richard hopes lots of new people will get involved, as it takes a whole year to organise and plan all the different activities. All volunteers are welcome, especially those who can help on the day.
If you, or someone you know would like to get involved in the success of the 40th anniversary Kirkstall Festival you can contact Richard directly if you’d like to sell programmes for an hour
kirkfestgates@virginmedia.com.
Or take a look at the festival website for other opportunities to get involved.
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