A popular Denbighshire festival requires some help, according to its organisers.
Despite the success of the event over several years, the organisers of the well-attended annual Ruthin Festival are worried about the steadily dwindling number of people on the committee and, in turn, they are concerned for the future of the event. According to organisers, there are some eight people on the committee, with all of them concerned about the workload for organising the festival in 2017 due to the varied events in the programme, the promotion of the festival and organising the main event. This is the Top of Town event on the concluding Saturday of the festival, which this year is on July 1. The annual Ruthin Festival in June/July comprises a varied week-long programme of concerts, plays, art and craft sessions, activities for children, open mic sessions, folk music events, comedy nights and the very popular Top of Town event on St Peters Square on the last Saturday. Committee chairman Jim Bryan is concerned about the situation and he said: “The major problem is that the group of us organising the festival is simply too small for the size of the event and we need more volunteers on the committee, as well as more volunteers able to help during the festival week.” The festival receives support from local groups such as the Rotary Club, Henllys, the chamber of trade and friends of Nantclwyd y Dref, in addition to businesses such as Blazer Fuels, IT Williams, JT Williams and Tesco, as well as Ruthin Town Council, Denbighshire County Council and many others. Mr Bryan added: “This support has been immense and we are extremely grateful, but the event cannot continue without more people making it happen directly by being part of the team that organises it. “The organising of the Top of Town event, for example, is a major undertaking between getting official permissions and the staging arrangements and we need help.” “I can promise that no one new on the committee will be given an official role and the festival meetings are always full of fun,” added Mr Bryan. Anyone interested can contact gwylrhuthun-ruthinfestival@hotmail.co.uk for further details.