ILKLEY Literature Festival has secured its position as a member of the top flight of cultural bodies in England and with it Arts Council funding for the next four years.

A total of £7m in Arts Council funding is heading to the Bradford district following an announcement this week about the National Portfolio - the Arts Council's long-term funding stream for the established big-hitters.

This year Ilkley Literature Festival will be joined as a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) by Bradford Literature Festival and the Bronte Parsonage Museum. The total Portfolio grant for Ilkley Literature Festival from 2018/2022 is £549,696 over the four years. Ilkley Literature Festival has had Arts Council funding since the Festival started in 1973 and has been an NPO since it was introduced in 2011.

Director of Ilkley Literature Festival Rachel Feldberg said: "We are delighted that not only is our funding secure for four more years but that Bradford Literature Festival and the Bronte Parsonage Museum are joining us as NPOs. This is a fantastic move forward for literature in the region and will ensure that the Bradford district continues to be a national destination for world class festivals, events and activities. We are really excited about working with all our NPO colleagues on projects in the future.”

Thirty-seven per cent of Ilkley Literature Festival income comes from public funding (compared with an average 56 per cent for other arts organisations across the region) and this funding allows Ilkley Literature Festival to continue to deliver the October Festival, Words in the City and a year round programme of outreach work.

The remaining 63 per cent of income is generated from a range of diverse sources, including ticket sales, the Festival Friends Scheme, sponsorship and individual giving.

The Festival team work hard to keep ticket prices as low as possible but as budgets everywhere continue to tighten, individual giving and sponsorship are increasingly important in helping to support programmes such as Ilkley and Bradford Young Writers and the Young Writers Summer School.