Leeds International Festival runners say all artists will get paid after claims

Organisers of the postponed Leeds International Festival have promised artists that they will all be paid after being accused of "refusing to honour" fees.

In an open letter to Leeds BID and other groups which run the festival, more than 20 co-signatories say the organisers do not match up to the event's self-described values of "openness, inclusivity and invention" and asked that BID (business improvement district) discusses its "financial issues" transparently.

The annual Leeds International Festival is a programme of talks, installations and other events designed to "boldly confront the most significant challenges of our time and construct radical new visions of the future", but this year's edition has been postponed indefinitely because of the Covid-19 crisis.

Members of groups such as Closed Forum, Riptide, Sable Radio, Sayang, Our Space, East Street Arts, Tea and Tolerance and others, which applied to be involved in the festival, said that they understand the unprecedented circumstances but add that "it cannot be independent artists who have committed to agreements with the festival in good faith that take the brunt of this financially".

Join our new coronavirus Facebook group for the latest confirmed news and advice as soon as we get it www.facebook.com/groups/yorkshirecoronavirus

Leeds BID, the festival's majority funder, has responded by saying that its levy receipts are "significantly lower" than previous years because of the current situation, but that each artist was informed between March 16 and 20 that work undertaken up to the start of that week would be paid for.

It was "working hard to ensure all outstanding invoices are paid in the first instance, and honouring work done to date", said BID.

One anonymous co-signatory said that there are some invoices outstanding from as far back as December.

Leeds BID chief executive Andrew Cooper told The Yorkshire Post that outstanding fees were "less than £30,000" and stressed that the organisation, which is a not-for-profit, had invested more than half a million pounds into arts in the city.

He also said that some staff had been furloughed, so communication between clients and the organisation would be more limited than usual, and asked that anyone with concerns approach him directly.