Saltburn Folk Festival has received £1,000 of funding through SPAR’s Community Cashback initiative.
This year, the festival which took place over the weekend of 9th and 10th August saw dozens of the biggest names in folk music perform at locations across Saltburn.
Organisers also delivered a completely free community programme including two days of bandstand performances, dance displays throughout Saltburn, pop up music in the Festival Hub and free workshops such as Bengali embroidery, poetry, drama, songwriting, and ensemble playing for young people.
The festival, a not-for-profit volunteer-led event, has been held in the town since 1997, after moving from Redcar where it has its roots as far back as 1968.
SPAR independent retailer Rachael Gosnay, whose family business in Saltburn goes back four generations, was thrilled to handover the cheque to Nigel Carden, Operations Director at the festival, and Marjorie Inganni, longtime friend of the festival, outside the family’s SPAR store in Milton Street.
Nigel Carden said: “The funding from SPAR is incredibly valuable to us at Saltburn Folk Festival and we used the money to add ceilidhs – social dancing events – to our brilliant programme of events in 2025.
“We wanted the festival to be bigger and better so we can entertain even more residents and visitors, and we achieved that this year. The ceilidhs were hugely popular, and the committee are delighted with the success of these as an addition to the weekend.
“We have over 100 volunteers helping to organise and stage the festival and the more donations and grants we get, the more we can pay for musicians and artists to stage events in Saltburn, fulfilling a need for accessible entertainment during the school summer holidays. Thank you to SPAR for supporting our efforts.”
SPAR Community Cashback returned more popular than ever in its fourth consecutive year and James Hall & Co. Ltd, SPAR’s primary retailer, wholesaler and distributor for the North of England, received 1,400 applications from charities and organisations across the North.
Nationally, more than 65 charities and local groups have shared a £100,000 grant fund this year, and since Community Cashback launched in 2021, grants have been awarded to nearly 200 organisations, highlighting SPAR’s long-term commitment in supporting local communities.
Rachael Gosnay said: “I was very pleased to handover the cheque. I grew up knowing the festival’s founder John Taylor as he knew my dad, so Saltburn Folk Festival has been something of a constant in my life as a local SPAR retailer in the centre of town.
“Not only does the folk festival bring so much energy and vibrancy to the town on an annual basis, but it also really helps put Saltburn on the map, and people from far and wide come to the town for the weekend’s entertainment.”
James Hall & Co. Ltd is a fifth-generation family business which serves a network of independent SPAR retailers and company-owned SPAR stores across Northern England six days a week from its base at Bowland View in Preston.
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