Button goodbye: so long and thanks for all the adclicks

We're pulling the button, folks. Sorry, but we don't know how to contact you directly.

We suggest you remove the code from your site. If anyone wants to see a copy of the statistics, drop us a line (weloveashtoncourt@googlemail.com) and we'll share it. Heck, we'll probably share them anyway, somehow, whether you like it or not. That's what blogs were invented for, no?

It's done what it could: it helped us spread the word, created a steady stream of donations direct to the festival, and made all of our blogs look nice.

A big shout to all of you who put it on your sites/blogs/small furry animals; you did a great thing and we salute you. It was worth a try.

We will keep the site here because we still love Ashton Court Festival, but no more button. For now...

cue: spooky music in the wind and distant laughter like at the end of the Flash Gordon movie.

Festival cancelled: finito

It's the end of the road for our favourite festival, folks.

Bristol Community Festival (BCF), them that run the Ashton Court Festival, have pulled the plug, are calling quits, cutting their losses, and getting the receivors in:

Bristol Community Festival, the not-for-profit company which organises the annual Ashton Court Festival has today announced that it has started the process of winding up the company. The directors have been in dicussions with insolvency practitioners with a view to appointing them to liquidate the company

Heavy rain over the weekend of the 2007 event forced the cancellation of the second day's entertainment resulting in financial losses which the organisation cannot sustain.

The directors met on the 19th July and concluded that there was no realistic prospect of continuing and reluctantly took the decision to fold the company. "It's a real tragedy that after 33 years we've been beaten by events beyond our control" said festival chariman Kevin Rooney. "After last year's difficulties we moved heaven and earth to save the festival and by Saturday night it looked like we'd succeeded. Being dealt this severe blow at the last minute is absolutely devastating."

From the ACF site

Bristol Community Festival, a not-for-profit company, is now talking to insolvency practitioners with a view to liquidating the company.

BBC

Well what can we say, without ranting and railing about it all? Gutted. Hard luck all. The vibes around last Sunday night were not far short of a wake, no doubt, but somewhere there was a glimpse of hope, but it was not to be.

Maybe a new thing will emerge; doubtlessley the city is full of promoters itching to do it, to take on the council, the H&S, the police, the punters etc. and good luck to them; here's what we have to say:

THANK YOU TO THE FESTIVAL ORGANISERS, BOARD AND VOLUNTEERS FOR GIVING IT ANOTHER CHANCE, PUTTING UP WITH ALL THE PRESSURE, KEEPING THE FAITH AND WORKING TO KEEP THIS ALIVE IN SPITE OF THE CRAZY SERIES OF MISHAPS; WE SALUTE YOU.

IT WAS WORTH THE EFFORT AND WE STILL LOVE YOU.

NOW GO AND REST :)

ACF Sunday cancelled

Sunday has been cancelled - this is not a joke - apparently the weather has been so bad that they can't comply with their licence in some way or another so have pulled the whole day.

This is a blow indeed. Gutted.

BUT - rumours are abounding that there will be gigs in and around Bristol anyway. That's right - we're Brits - we're not afraid of a minor mishap, are we? NO. The bodging just never stops.

SO - who is playing where? Let us know...

BBC report

We Love button keeps donations steady

We have just run a report on the button we asked all you bloggers, website people, myspacers and others to put on your virtual homes, and it's looking quite cool:

Since we started, the buttons on your sites have had 38,600 views, leading to 170 direct clickthroughs to the donation page on the festival site.

Now this may not a figure that those in the hard nosed corporate agency world of online publishing would leap about about, but we think it's blooming marvelous.

The organisers tell us that there has been a steady stream of donations since we begun, which has never happened before; normally you see a spike of activity around very resource intensive PR pushes.

Now, with all of your help, we can achieve a steady awareness raising campaign which leads to a steady donation stream.

Thank you everyone and keep putting up the posters and slinging those buttons around!

Facebook and MySpace figures

We're not quite sure what it means, but think that having presences in Facebook and MySpace is quite fun - it is a chance for us all to show how we feel in our different places around 'tinternet, support the festival with awareness raising, and possibly, in the future, sort out some sort of group support network...

As they say in the world of buzzword bingo, the situation is 'emergent'... we're working with Jenny and Steve the organisers to use the groups for their best purpose.

The Facebook group has 139 members
The MySpace profile has 312 friends

Good work all and thanks for your continued support.

Festival gets green light

Fantastic! Brilliant! Our mid-July happiness is secured - Houston we have a festival - Woohoo ha ha and blooming marvelous!

If The Evening Post says it is happening, then it has to happen. Hurray!

Well done all. I will change the front page of the site to reflect the latest information when we get it.

See you all there :)

Benefit gigs: news from the festival team

Thanks to more benefit gig organisers:

The Smerins benefit at the Croft raised 1,100 and the Thekla benefit over a grand (but we haven't had it all through yet). Well done all and thanks again; it's all going to a good place, you know it :)

NO thanks however to the characters who stole money from the collection buckets; lowlifes.

We used the text donation number at the Thekla gig, gave it loads of mentions from the comperes, so we're looking forward to seeing how that went (more news will follow).

There are more benefit gigs in the pipeline: word is of one called 'Hands up for Ashton Court' on June 15, as well as some action in The Croft.. more news will follow...

Keep up the pressure all! Get those posters up and keep shaking the buckets (although keep an eye out for thieving lowlifes)...