I think you possibly have at least one valid point there "black belt" - but I don't think that people from out side the area should feel that they can't appeal to the council on the festivals behalf - if enough non-locals did so then surely it would show that the event was acheiving what it set out to acheive in the first place (get tourists into the area). If enough people wrote and said how much they loved it and how much money they spent and let slip that they had stayed in Morecambe rather than Lancaster it might have an effect on some of the festivals detractors in the council...

There are lots of people who enjoy the festival who are from the local area - not to mention the local businesses who have benefitted from it over the years - it always amazed me that the management team of the Maritime Museum did not put up more of a fight to keep the festival on the Quayside - their visitor numbers must have plummeted since the event moved to Glasson. I think there are enough supporters for there to be a sizable effort made to persuade the council - it is just a matter of doing it!

But as for local people not knowing that it is on - it has been going for twenty years and is in every local paper and on the local radio stations - so I'm not sure there is much of an excuse... alas having been involved in small scale events in my home village I realise that even if you put a flyer through every single door there will still be people who had no clue anything was happening.

I think the most classic example of this was when a couple of years ago at the Maritime Festival I heard someone exclaim in a slightly cross manner that if they hadn't have heard about the festival on Radio Lancashire the day before they would have had no idea it was happening....hmmmmmmm....

Local musicians prefer to perform rather than listen? Isn't that a little prima donna-ish?

There were three hour-and three quarter singarounds over the weekend...

And non of the performers object to people joining in with the singing...

but I digress - the point is anyone who loves or benfits from the event should feel entitled to write to the papers, the council, the Prince of Wales (a supporter of the festival apparantly) whoever...

It would be nice to see it rise from the ashes in style for its 21st Birthday in April 2009.