"Then the town would realise what it was missing and would probably offer some finance for '06?"

I am quite sure that nearly all the businesses in the town have a clear and accurate view of the affect of the festival on their profits. They know a lot better than you, I or Steve Heap what the arithmetic is for their business.

Boycott 05 and none of them will have any finamcial surpises.

Anyway, the best future for the festival is to make 05 as big and good as possible. Because people who take 05 off - or hear it wasn't very good, may never come back.