What does it take to build a festival?

Support, sponsorship and donations from a wide variety of sources are the reason the Maldon Festival is able to run, year on year.  There are plenty of good reasons for businesses to support a local Festival such as Maldon’s, from profile-raising and community outreach to brand-building.  The motivation of Maldon Festival’s main sponsor, Gadsby Wicks and headline concert sponsor, Aquila Holdings is perhaps also characterised as good corporate citizenship.  Both businesses are long term associates of the Festival and are deeply connected with the region.

Local connection also figures strongly for three of the Festival’s concert sponsors, Tiptree (Wilkins & Sons); The Mighty Oak Brewing Company and The Limes Guest House.   From the famous jam-makers to those famed as providers of hospitality within Maldon, this illustrates the community strength of the Festival.  However, it is far from a parochial local event. One of the Festival’s official food sponsors is the Lithuanian food company Zemaitijos Pienas, one of the biggest dairy businesses in the Baltics.  It is a Lithuanian tradition to eat the company’s award winning Džiugas cheese with beer as much as wine.  This great mix is serendipitously repeated with the mix of Festival sponsors including the Mighty Oak Brewing Company alongside the long-time Festival supporter Farmer’s Ale.  So, expect plenty of beer and cheese tasting alongside magnificent music and wonderful art exhibitions during the fortnight. .  The Festival has also achieved an award from the Secure Communities Scheme run by Burg-Wächter, a leading provider of security products.

This year the festival has attracted support from the Maldon District Council through the Sense of Place initiative as well as the Middlewick Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund and the Bradwell B Fund, both of which are managed by the local independent trust, Essex Community Foundation (ECF). Opportunities still exist for local businesses to become involved with the festival, details are available from bdavy@clear-group.co.uk.