After this year's Leigh Folk Festival was cancelled due to the Covid-19 crisis, we lent a hand to help get the next best thing online.
Leigh Folk Festival is the UK’s largest free folk festival and a much-loved celebration of music, dance and spoken word. A summer staple of the musical calendar, it is also a treasured institution of the local community. So it was sad news when the organisers had to take the difficult decision to cancel the event, amid the Coronavirus pandemic. As long-time supporters, we wanted to help, and were delighted to be involved in the launch of Front Room Folk, a digital version that would bring the festival directly in to peoples’ homes via the live streaming of performances, workshops and more.
Working to a tight schedule, we were tasked with designing and building a website for the new-look festival. It not only had to showcase the event, but also help raise funds for the Leigh Folk Arts Association and its two partner charities – Help Musicians and Southend Emergency Fund. A donation facility was integrated and users also have the opportunity to purchase merchandise through the site. The design is bright and breezy, complimented with fantastic illustrations from Aidan Saunders of Print Wagon to give it that folk fest feel.
We’d like to thank sixredsquares for their support and advice. We’ve worked with them for several year’s now and its great to have them as a sponsor for our latest community project. – Neil Harding, Festival Chairman
It’s great to be involved in a community project that has overcome the challenges of the current crisis and our congratulations go to the festival committee, who have worked so hard to make this possible. The event takes place on the 2nd and 3rd of May; all you need to do is log on to frontroomfolk.com and enjoy!
