After losing its regular funding, Manchester’s 24:7 Theatre Festival announces that this year’s Big Festival Weekend 2015 will go ahead, thanks to strong support from Manchester’s theatre scene, past participants and audiences, Manchester City Council and Arts Council England.
24:7 successfully ran a crowdfunding campaign to raise £2,500 in match funding for its Arts Council bid and, with the support from almost 100 local and international pledges, raised £3,200 with an additional £650 added via Gift Aid.
David Slack, the festival's exec producer, said: "these funds make it possible to finalise the play scripts for the Big Weekend, work on a site specific production and call out for short monologues to be performed around our Festival Hub."
The final selection will be made by another new panel of readers, made up of Julie Hesmondhalgh, fresh from Channel 4’s Cucumber, as well as award-winning playwrights Ian Kershaw, Charlotte Keatley and Deborah McAndrew.
The Big Festival Weekend takes place July 24-26 in and around the Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama, part of the University of Manchester.