Brockley Max, a project of the Brockley Cross Action Group, is intended as an inclusive arts festival produced by, with, and for Brockley residents. It is an annual showcase for a wide range of artists in all media which provides an opportunity for the broad creative community that is resident in Brockley to display its wares to their neighbours and to the public at large. In so doing, Brockley Max wishes not only to provide a diverse range of cultural activities in Brockley aimed at residents and visitors of all ages, but also to reveal the extraordinary depth and variety of artistic work produced by people we see every day as neighbours, enriching the lives of all who participate or attend, and knitting the community more closely together.
Brockley Max this year will be six years old, and as it continues to grow and to make more elaborate plans, there is a need for all who participate in events to be clear about what the festival is, how it is organized, and where it is going in the future. Brockley Max is produced by neighbourhood volunteers, principally using sites that are lent or co-opted at no cost to the festival. It is not a commercial festival, in the sense that both participants and organizers give freely of their skills and time. Most events are free to the public at large. A few events selected by the organizers of the festival (opening and closing galas, for example) may have an admission charge to support the limited central funds of Brockley Max or to pay headline acts to attract an audience. Other events are likely to be organized as open-air gifts to the entire community. Any funds received from admission events by Brockley Max will supplement grant support for administrative and publicity costs from other organizations, or be used as matching funds for such support. In general, all grant support and event income that comes into the organization will be used to publicise and organize events, and produce the documentation that will ensure the festival’s continuation.
Commercial events that are produced in parallel with the annual Brockley Max festival are welcome to associate with the festival in its overall publicity and outreach, but will in no circumstances be funded or principally supported by Brockley Max. It is anticipated in the neighbourly spirit of the festival that any commercial events so organized will freely donate a substantive percentage of their income, agreed in advance, to the central funding of the festival. In addition, commercial events may or may not choose to pay performers/artists.
Performers/artists are free to apply for funding to a grant making body for their event, but if they mention the festival as part of the application, they must let the organisers know in advance. The festival aims to promote civic pride and neighbourliness in Brockley, and in pursuing this goal relies on the generosity, wit, and dexterity of its participants to see that all events are set out to the public with maximum flair and minimal cost.
