A big “Thank You” has out from Brightlingsea’s WinterFest crew to people in the town and beyond for their support for this year’s festival.
The success of the 2023 WinterFest, which joined forces for the first time with the new Brightlingsea Literary Festival, has already inspired plans for next year’s events.
Support given by the community through contributions at this year’s month-long festival of music, arts and spoken word, held throughout February, meant that more than £4,000 was raised.
As a result, more money than ever will go back into the community, with grants from the WinterFest Wellbeing Fund, which will open in April to give allocations to families, individuals and organisations in Brightlingsea to help with people’s mental, physical and social wellbeing.
A substantial donation will also be given from WinterFest to the mental health charity, Mid and North East Essex Mind.
In a message to everyone who has helped make the 8th annual WinterFest such a winning formula the festival’s crew said: “It is so heartwarming that there has been such a positive response from so many people to this year’s festival.
“It couldn’t happen without our volunteers, sponsors, performers, activity leaders, writers and wellbeing practitioners, who give their time and talents free, all the venues across Brightlingsea who hosted our events and of course our lovely enthusiastic audiences.“
They added: “A big thank you to everyone involved, your help and support will continue make a difference throughout the year through your donations to the Wellbeing Fund and we can’t wait to be back again for WinterFest 2024!”
