Our patron is Katie Derham. The ten events will happen in four venues, all within the village - upstairs in the Talbot inn; the church; the ultra-modern Baptist church; and a byo food & drink in a private garden. The performers range from the Speak Easy Jazz band to the Horsham Symphony Orchestra. On the way they include Dominic Ferris (of 'Me and My Piano' fame; Caroline Tyler; an evening of young performers from local schools; Mark Edwards & his jazz trio; No Strings Attached; & Pavlos Carvalho with an evening of Greek folk songs & music. The last day sees the arrival of the Magnificat Chorus from Hungary to perform with a local group. We expect three events to be free and seven to be online-ticketed. £3950 has already been pledged, £645 has been spent to date - £250 as deposit to reserve one of the venues; £269 on membership of Making Music & insurance; £112 on early advertising; and £15 on domain name. We need your help to raise the rest and make the festival a great success!

What we'll deliver:

• To start establishing Cuckfield as a centre of quality musical entertainment
• To help young people reach a standard equipping them for public participation
• To broaden awareness (of all ages) of the power of music
• Half the money (£4000) needed to launch the project, of which virtually all is already in the bank account

Why it's a great idea:

Mid Sussex is far from being without music, but all too often single events are barely promoted - just word of mouth & the odd poster here and there - and most people don't wake up to whatever it is till it's been and gone. The idea of the Festival is to concentrate diverse musical events into eight days and promote them well. There will be a prospectus containing details and bios of all events which will have a wide distribution to households. We will also advertise locally, and will be using social media from early January.

Steps to get it done:

• 1. Patron already secured (Katie Derham).
• 2. Nine of ten events already booked
• 3. Venues booked and, where demanded, deposits paid

One evening (provisionally entitled Rising Stars!) will be devoted to young performers from local schools who will benefit from having a platform to perform in public. We will try to ensure this covers many instrumental specialities - brass, strings, woodwind, piano, etc. There will be instances in which performers will be approaching crucial exams so Rising Stars! can help them acclimatise to concert conditions.