We are sorry to ask in these difficult times but we need your help.
In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, and with the health and safety of festivalgoers, staff, speakers, performers and the community of Hay-on-Wye at the forefront of our minds, we have no choice but to cancel HowTheLightGetsIn Hay 2020.
The crisis is devastating for an organisation like ours which does not take a profit. We have already invested in the planning and infrastructure for the event, and will now be unable to make those costs back in ticket sales.
For twelve years, HowTheLightGetsIn has put on a long weekend of intellectual stimulation on the banks of the River Wye. We have brought a community together around debates featuring the leading thinkers discussing the world's biggest ideas. And we have put on music line-ups and DJ sets to have you dancing till sunrise. But we have only ever been able to do this thanks to you, our wonderful audience as the great majority of our revenue comes from ticket sales.
Now our not for profit making organisation needs to raise emergency funds to sustain us while we reorganise and refocus to secure future festivals and events. We need your help to plot the route forward, to ensure that HowTheLightGetsIn Hay 2021 can go ahead, and that we can support our staff who are working around the clock to plan and prepare a digital offering in this difficult time. We are still working hard as I speak - at a time when, more than ever, people need connection and to hear the leading thinkers discuss the biggest ideas, we are exploring the options for online live events and are hoping to be the first-ever fully online festival at the end of May.
This £100,000 emergency fund will contribute towards a larger fundraising target that we are seeking to secure through multiple sources.
HowTheLightGetsIn supports the local community and economy of Hay-on-Wye, provides experience for hundreds of budding filmmakers, events managers and marketers, once-in-a-lifetime insight and inspiration from the world's leading thinkers for college students and university hopefuls, and engages children who are just making their first steps into the world of philosophy. We want to continue having this positive impact on the world, and we can't do it without you.
Whatever you can spare, will make a big difference. As a registered charity, if you tick the Gift Aid box we receive 25% additional funds on top of whatever you have donated.
And if you donate without choosing to remain anonymous, you will be recognised as a HowTheLightGetsIn supporter on our donors page to be unveiled in May. And we'll be eternally grateful!
Please donate and help us spread the word.
HowTheLightGetsIn team
