On the day that a £585,000 funding package for Salt and Tar was confirmed by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, the Bootle entertainment venue has announced a brand-new comedy and arts festival for 2025.

Today’s decision from the Combined Authority will see a £585,000 funding boost for Salt and Tar to support the ongoing work to turn it into a permanent site, and to ensure its effective integration with the Strand and the wider town centre. Salt and Tar has grown dramatically since it first opened in 2022 and the additional funds will help enable it to branch out further, with more varied events.

Comedy and arts

Those events will include the new Salt and Tar Fringe Festival, which will take place from Friday 23^rd to Monday 26^th May next year to celebrate all things comedy, culture and arts.

Following on from the success of the Comedy Weekender, the new, free-to-attend festival will host a variety of performances, live entertainment, exhibitions, and workshops. There will also be ticketed shows within a heated entertainment marquee with acts to be announced later this month.

Cllr Paulette Lappin, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Skills and Employment said: “Salt and Tar has been hugely successful in its short life. We’ve seen world-renowned acts performing on stage, as well as cultural celebrations, and even a dedicated market event for our young entrepreneurs to flourish.

“The funding from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority will help us as we keep delivering fantastic events that put Bootle on the map on a permanent basis. Salt and Tar has been exactly what the town needs, and I’m excited for the future.

“We’re already seeing the evolution of one of our most popular events with the brand-new fringe festival, as well as the return of the much-loved Music Weekender. I am sure that next year is going to be brilliant for Salt and Tar and for Bootle as a whole.”

Supporting Sefton

The funding was announced as part of a £2 million package for Sefton Council, which will support Salt and Tar and three other projects within Bootle and Seaforth. These are improvements to the Sefton Community Learning Centre on Cambridge Road, refurbishment of St George’s House in the Strand and extra support for the Bootle Strand Commodity Training School.

Cambridge Road’s Community Learning Centre currently supports residents wanting to gain extra education, training and employment, through a number of adult learning programmes. With an additional £580,000, the centre will be able to introduce new hospitality programmes and increase the number of learners who can attend courses.

The Bootle Strand Commodity Trading School is currently run in the shopping centre by Merseyside Expanding Horizons, who also own the Big Onion. The school provides local people with training to give them the skills and confidence to enter the commodities industry. With the new £50,000 investment, the school can open a dedicated facility, while the £785,000 refurbishment of St George’s House will pave the way for a new office space within Bootle town centre.

Helping the community

Cllr Lappin added: “Today’s news of additional funding for South Sefton is fantastic. Not only will it help with much needed developments, but it will give us the support we need to continue to help our residents who are looking to further their education or employment.

“Gaining the skills and confidence needed to enter the workforce or follow a new venture is never easy, but we will always be there to support the people of Sefton.”

To stay up to date with changes across Bootle and Salt and Tar, visit www.sefton.gov.uk/BootleTransformation.