THE future of a long-standing Hampshire arts festival is in doubt following cuts to funding. 

Play to the Crowd, the charity that runs Theatre Royal Winchester, Hat Fair and Playmakers, has learnt that it will no longer be a National Portfolio Organisation. 

This was a key part of the funding mix of Winchester’s annual international arts festival, Hat Fair.

Andrew Loretto, Hat Fair and Playmakers director, Play to the Crowd, said: "This is extremely disappointing news to receive - not only for the team here at Play to the Crowd but for the hundreds of artists, performers and community participants who love to perform at the Hat Fair festival and the audiences in their thousands that attend.

"We will take some time to reflect and discuss the situation with Arts Council England and our other stakeholders to find the best way forward. We will find a way to ensure that some form of Hat Fair will take place in 2023. I know that Winchester will want Hat Fair to find a way forward. 

"We will need to look at the format and at other ways to raise the income required to stage the festival. The ACE NPO grant was the largest part of the funding mix that enabled Hat Fair to happen each year. Although we won’t be funded as part of the National Portfolio, ACE are very positive about our application and are keen to work with us to find alternative funding sources."

Deryck Newland, chief executive of Play to the Crowd, said: "This is a blow and shock to us all, however, we will take some time to look at the business model of the festival and explore all funding options available to us going forward.

"We are determined to do all that we can to ensure that Hat Fair continues in the years ahead in some way, but without ACE NPO support it becomes much more challenging. We recognise the difficult decisions that Arts Council England has had to make but this outcome is obviously extremely disappointing for us.”

Hat Fair is the UK’s longest-running Outdoor Arts Festival and attracts audiences of more than 90,000 to Winchester every year. The family-friendly festival features street performances and Outdoor Arts from around the world, as well as providing a platform for local and community artists.