From the Brighton Argus:
The showpiece event of an international music festival has been cancelled after sponsors pulled its funding.
The Brighton Hip Hop Festival came under threat after the Arts Council withdrew its £30,000 funding just weeks before the two-week event.
The national organisation has funded the Brighton Hip Hop Festival (BHHF) for several years but turned down this year’s bid so it can divert cash to the 2012 Olympics in London.
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Now the showpiece live event has been cancelled despite desperate attempts by organisers to raise enough cash to put it on.
The free all day live music event, which in previous years has been held on Brighton seafront, was due to take place on July 14 to close the festival.
Despite the disappointment, the rest of the programme including poetry and MC shows, youth workshops, DJs, breakdancing and street art jams will go ahead.
Director Indy Hunjan said: “We have worked tirelessly to ensure the festival can still go ahead, but we just haven’t got the money to put on the live event.
“Thousands of artists and music fans will be affected by this. The festival represents the whole of UK hip hop culture and it is just a shame the Arts Council didn’t see it as an important event.
“Last year we had 700 artists and 20,000 people and yet the Arts Council says it is not strategically important.
“This will affect us in the future because we’ll struggle to find sponsors next year again. It’s bad news for Brighton and for hip hop culture in the UK.
“Now we are just asking everyone to support the rest of the festival to show the world just how popular it is.”
Now in its fourth year, the festival is the UK’s largest celebration of hip hop culture. It supports underground, regional and national artists. It tries to promote hip hop in a positive way and challenge negative stereotypes linked with it.
Hove DJ Norman Cook praised last yearís festival, and said: “The Brighton Hip Hop Festival is a fantastic initiative. “It brings together all thatís great about hip hop and provides inspiration and opportunities for the whole community.”
A spokeswoman for the Arts Council said she could not comment on why the bid had been rejected but added half of all applications were refused.
Events at venues including the Pavilion Theatre, Riki Tik, Concorde 2 and Komedia are going ahead as planned. For more information visit www.bhhf.org.
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