Saltaire Festival organisers issue plea for volunteers (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Saltaire Festival organisers issue plea for volunteers

9:00am Sunday 24th February 2013 in News

With around 100 attractions and upwards of 50,000 visitors each year, the ten-day Saltaire Festival is big business for the village.

Organisers say the event, which runs this year from September 12 to 22, brings in hundreds of thousands of pounds to the World Heritage Site annually.

But it is organised and run by a small team of volunteers and they are appealing for people willing to help to get in touch.

Saltaire Festival chairman Gideon Seymour said: “There’s all sorts of different roles, from helping to staff the events, directing public, giving information about what’s happening and car parking. We’ve a lot of people going backwards and forwards over the footbridge and we need to get stewards helping people around the village and helping with tickets.”

There are around 100 events in a range of venues including music, spoken word, visual arts, exhibitions and special interest events. There are also food and drink stalls, craft and charity markets, an outdoor stage and a fun fair. The festival was started in 2002 to celebrate village founder Sir Titus Salt’s creative legacy.

Television and radio presenter Stuart Maconie was the sell-out headline name at the 2012 festival.

Planning for the 2013 event is well under way.

Mr Seymour said: “There’s ongoing conversations about making more of Saltaire and the World Heritage Status.

“The festival really helps with lots of people coming in from outside of the area, from the other side of Leeds, Harrogate and across North yorkshire. It’s a really good way of letting people see what Saltaire has to offer.”

To volunteer, visit saltairefestival.co.uk