Does Cumbria really need its fix of summer festival fever?

Then there is the music, which covers rock and pop, folk and roots, jazz and classical and most points in between all those genres.

So far this year, we’ve seen the Keswick Jazz and mountain festival come and go and last weekend hundreds of campers, caravanners and music fans invaded the quiet village of Ireby, near Wigton, for its ever-popular music festival.

Festivals and one-day events such as the Winter Droving in Penrith and our country shows, draw visitors from far and wide and add to the economy as well as raise the county’s profile on a national level.

But despite all the smiley faces and fun atmosphere, it is not easy to run a festival. Some big name events have gone under in recent years and locally we have lost Brampton Live, Stepping Stones and Maryport Blues and this year looks like the last for the Solfest and the Carlisle Blues/Rock events.

Ben Robinson is co-creator of the county’s biggest and best-known - the award-winning Kendal Calling music festival.

It started in 2006 with a capacity of 900 and next month 25,000 music fans will be at the Lowther Deer Park event near Penrith.

He says: “I think festivals are really important events for Cumbria.

“We have got Kendal Calling in a really good place and it is a very hard thing to do. You can get it all right, but then there is not something right on the site or something happens to throw things off.

“It’s a bit like Doc on Back To The Future where he gets everything ready, then at the last minute he is hanging off the clock and trying to pull the wires together.

“It is a lot of work and a lot is done on good will.”

While he is sad to see the demise of Maryport Blues and the loss of Solfest, he says: “Hopefully there will be more coming through.”

Charles Devlin started the Ireby music festival 17 years ago. There was only the Brampton music festival around at the time. Since then, other music festivals have flowered and faded and Brampton itself has finished.

“There are not many festivals left, they have come and gone since we started,” says Charles.

“The secret to our success is to keep it very light-hearted, don’t get too deep into things and be friendly to people.

“I would say don’t get too big. Everything we do is the same as a big festival, it is just on a smaller scale.

“The volunteers who do the stewarding make the difference.

“Festivals are important for the county and music festivals give the chance to hear young musicians there are lots of them in the south, but there are very few up and coming and touring bands in Cumbria.

“It is important to make sure there is an opening for young musicians here and we have always featured them at Ireby.

“It puts the county on the music map as well and people who come for the festival come back throughout the year for holidays.”

While security and policing is always an issue, generating enough interest to cover costs is the biggest headache of all.

The finances of running an event led to folk legend Maddy Prior folding her Stepping Stones music festival on the Scottish border and relaunching it as the Forgotten Lands festival, a smaller country show that combines music with community events.

“We did Stepping Stones for six years and decided last year to make it more of a DIY festival,” she says.

“It just became too much and I thought ‘why am I doing this again?’

“The music was fantastic, but it became too expensive.

“Starting one now is quite difficult, just to get the money for it all.”

She will be singing at her festival next weekend, and appearing with her legendary folk band Steeleye Span at Glastonbury this year, as well as the Cornbury and Beautiful Days festivals.

She added: “One of the problems in Cumbria is that there are just not that many people around, unless you are Kendal Calling.

“In the south of the country there are more festivals because there is a bigger population to draw on.”

Gill Haigh, managing director of Cumbria Tourism, underlined the value of our festivals and says: “Cumbria has a vibrant arts, music and culture scene which attracts visitors from across the UK and further afield.

“We know from our research that culture provides a strong motivation for return visits and longer stays.

“Established festivals such as Kendal Calling, Lake District Summer Music Festival, Lakes Alive, International Comic Art Festival and Winter Droving are just a handful of the diverse events on offer that showcase why Cumbria is the leading rural cultural destination and the place to discover something truly special.”

Solfest has been described as “Cumbria’s answer to Glastonbury”. This summer looks like being it’s final hurrah following financial struggles.

Chairman Simon Kay has no doubt about its value or that of other events in the county.

He says: “Festivals are a very good thing for our economy generally.

“There is a future for music festivals, people do like it.”

He says increased costs for basic items such as fuel, coupled with increased bureaucracy have made it more difficult to stage festivals and points out that he has started a business to help people deal with the licensing and red tape needed for such events.

Around 5,000 fans are expected to pile into a field near Aspatria for what is being called a ‘farewell’ this August.

But Simon says: “Cumbria needs these events, without a doubt - particularly the north west area. So many people have come and did not even realise that Cumbria had a coastline and have come back for holidays as a result.

“Local caravan parks, hotels and shops have benefited. It contributes a colossal amount to the county’s economy and shows us off at our absolute best.”

Adrian Lochhead is the man behind the increasingly popular Winter Droving and Picnic Cinema events. The director of Eden Arts knows the value of a festival and what makes them a success.

“They are always a good thing,” he insists.

“They bring people together in big numbers in a positive way and they feel positive about their place. It goes beyond the entertainment on the day.

“They celebrate the place where they are based. Imagine what what it would be like if you took the festival away. The place would be dead.”