ORGANISERS are seeking permission from Wiltshire Council to run an independent “people’s festival” in Malmesbury after they hit their start-up target of raising £30,000 in 30 days.

The Boondocks Festival would feature scores of bands on a 15-acre edge-of-town site on the weekend of July 17-18 – four days before WOMAD starts at nearby Charlton Park.

Organisers were thrilled after gaining pledges for advance tickets amounting to just over £31,000, which has given them the financial impetus to press ahead.

Festival spokesman Neil Muttock said: “What an amazing effort. Four hundred and twenty people have donated through our campaign and now we can’t wait to get on with it.”

The people behind the project have worked on a number of similar events including Sherston Festival, which will not go ahead next year, and WOMAD.

After deciding the town could host its own two-day event, they launched a Facebook page and a Kickstarter account, which allows people to pledge cash for tickets.

They said: “Malmesbury and the surrounding area is awash with creative and unique people, expressing themselves in many different and interesting ways.

“For the size of the town, there are a huge number of people involved in music projects, live events, art exhibitions and workshops as well as unique traders and organisations, and we think that’s worth celebrating.”

They have issued a Google maps image of the site but have not specified its exact location, except that it is a “short walk from the Market Cross”.

The Boondocks team has been in touch with Wiltshire Council since launching the idea and is now involved in talks over gaining the relevant permissions, including entertainments and drinks licences, and is looking to book bands and other acts.

While the successful Kickstarter account is now closed, further advance tickets will be available in the New Year.

For more information, people can visit tinyurl.com/ml562we or tinyurl.com/n5brfot