The bulk of the organisational work for the Festival took place following the Blues Festival in July. A few people, including Rowan Thomas, Grahame Bunn & David Harrison, booked acts, entertainment, and stalls. Money, or lack of it, meant that rather than being free, a charge of £3 had to be made for entry to the firework safety zone for the display on Sunday evening.

In previous years the Committees spent most of the year fundraising, and held a bucket collection after the firework display. The bucket collection proved very demoralising, with a lot of people totally ignoring the collectors in spite of knowing that any money collected went towards the next year's Festival. Many people did donate, some exceedingly generously.

Sponsorship helped tremendously - all the acts on the stage supplied free of charge by Broadwater Entertainments. The Kings Head sold tables on their riverside terrace with all the proceeds going towards the Festival. The Star & The Swan also sold tables. Pepperpot Pyrotechnics subsidised the fireworks display. A list of sponsors and supporters can be seen on the Festival website.