Fighting to keep the sound of music alive at Wisbech bandstand

Organisers of free concerts held throughout the summer in a Fenland park are going to “fight like hell” to keep them going.

However, the Friends of Wisbech Park fear they will not be able to continue with the regular monthly concerts because spiralling costs have made it too expensive to carry on.

Tom Read, one of the leading organisers of the concerts that are held at the Wisbech Bandstand in the town’s park, announced the group’s decision to suspend the summer concerts on Facebook on Monday.

He blamed the rising costs and explained liability insurance premiums, which were originally paid by Fenland District Council, have more than doubled making it beyond the friends’ limited budget.

Tom said: “We have always worked with a very limited budget and even with public donations we admins have sometimes had to put our own money in to cover the expenses.

“It has become increasingly more difficult to attract new bands with such a small budget, paying them barely enough to cover their expenses. Using the same bands every year is probably why attendance figures were getting lower.

“We have really enjoyed putting together these events over the last few years and will be sad to see it end.”

And on that note, and following an outpouring of love for the concerts on social media, Tom and his daughter Kristy Read, together with the other members of the Friends group are holding an emergency meeting on Friday (19) to try to work out a way forward.

Tom said: “We will fight like hell to keep them going in some form. What we are hoping to do is organise one or two special events, rather than hold a concert every month.

“But we are going to have to find some funding. We have had generous sponsorship from local businesses in the past, and we are hoping we might attract more.

“We have tried to cover the expenses of the bands who perform, you can’t expect them to do it for nothing, but they have gone up like everything else.We have had a lot of loyal bands play for us, but it would be nice to be able to attract a variety of new ones to help keep it fresh and encourage people to come along.

“We have collection buckets and people used to put money in those and in the past we have collected well over £120 but that has also dwindled,because people are feeling the pinch and can’t afford to do it.”

Anyone who would like to help with donations or sponsorship can contact the group through their Facebook page.