LeeFest is attempting to raise £50,000 through crowd funding website Kickstarter, so it can grow whilst remaining sponsor free. It will hand over creative control of the festival to its fans in exchange for small investments in its development. It has 30 days to raise the cash, starting today, Wednesday 3 April.
The festival was founded by organiser Lee Denny in 2006. It has since supported emerging artists, and provided training and experience to young people entering the industry.
Denny said the move was a choice between "selling out to big sponsors and investors" or doing something different.
"We desperately wanted to safeguard the non-profit status of the event," he said. "We owe our current success to the amazing individuals involved, so raising finance from the people and giving them creative control of the festival in return seemed perfect."
LeeFest is taking place on 12 -14 July at Highams Hill Farm in Surrey. It’s the latest in a series of festivals to use crowd funding as a method of raising capital.
Last month, with the aim of raising £30,000 towards creating several parts of the event, while via the Crowd Cube platform as a capital stream for its Wychwood festival.
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