February 24 Letters: Not the full story over literary festival funds

ALTHOUGH it would be churlish to deny Rachel Feldberg’s leadership and dynamism in making Ilkley Literature Festival one of the top events of its kind 
in the country, the email that 
she sent out to supporters, 
after Bradford Council suggested they would withdraw funding, did not reveal the full truth about the festival’s finances.

She did not tell supporters about the large amounts 
that the festival gets from the Arts Council – more than £374,000 between 2012 
and 2015.

Ilkley Literature Festival is, in fact, in a privileged position – many Yorkshire arts organisations can only dream of these sorts of resources.

The withdrawal of £10,000 of council funds is, relatively speaking, a small amount of money to Ilkley. They should remember how incredibly fortunate they are as an organisation, and get on with the considerable resources at their disposal.

From: Mr S Doyle, Otley.

IF Ilkley Literature Festival is so successful (The Yorkshire Post, February 14), why does it need to be subsidised by Bradford Council? The town hall has other priorities, not least care of the elderly and the need to raise education standards at the city’s schools.