An open letter to the many fine performers who were scheduled to play at the Sandywoods Folk Festival:
"I am writing to you because you are (or at least were) scheduled to play at the May 23-24 Sandywoods Folk Festival, which was to have been a two-day, family-friendly, outdoor music festival held in the beautiful hilltop fields at Sandywoods Farm in Tiverton, RI. Planning for the festival began in earnest last year, not long after we held a Pete Seeger memorial concert up in the fields.
We secured a state arts grant, held fundraisers, and put together a great lineup of 16 acts, including you.
It pains me to have to tell you that the Sandywoods Farm, Inc. board of directors has, at the eleventh hour and after festival planning and preparations are 90% complete, chosen to drastically modify the festival by: (a) moving it indoors to a hall that only seats 150; and (b) shrinking it down to a single day. The board released this statement on April 8th:
"The original festival plans for a two-day outdoor event were modified due to concerns of the Sandywoods Board with complications associated with adequate liability coverage."
It goes without saying that I am completely 100% opposed to what the board has done. I have in fact resigned my position as program coordinator at Sandywoods in response to their decision.
To kill a long-planned outdoor weekend folk festival over concerns about the cost of additional liability insurance is unfair to the many music fans who were looking forward to attending, and is disrespectful to you, the performers. I am quite sure that many of you passed up gigs in order to keep your commitment to the festival. And I know that each and every one of you generously worked with me to keep festival expenses as low as possible.
In my opinion, Sandywoods Farm, Inc. should be held responsible for paying all musicians the agreed-upon performance fees and stipends, regardless of whether you are able and willing to play at the board's new, one-day, indoor "festival" on the 23rd. (If I'm reading the board's official statement correctly, it sounds like they will allow all booked performers to play in the hall on Saturday, including any Sunday musicians who can magically alter their touring schedule and show up in Tiverton a day early.)
Although Sandywoods Farm, Inc. continues to refer to the May 23rd event as the "Sandywoods Folk Festival," local supporters of the planned festival know that this is a far cry from what we had worked for, planned for, and hoped for: a glorious weekend of music and fresh air up in the hayfields, with kids and dogs and frisbees, and local farmers and artists selling their produce and crafts, and of course all of you folks sharing your talents on stage. I'm really sorry I couldn't save the festival. I fought hard for it, but I just couldn't win."
Sharing the news, I do not want to get into the legalities, but I find nothing to disagree with.
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