WIMBORNE Folk Festival has launched its own ‘band aid’ campaign to raise funds for the big event.

Volunteers who have taken it upon themselves to revive the festival next year are selling red and white wristbands bearing the slogan ‘Support Wimborne Folk’.

All proceeds raised will go straight to the family-friendly festival.

PR and marketing coordinator Mike Carhart-Harris said: “As local people, we couldn’t imagine Wimborne without the ‘folkie’ and wanted to ensure it remains a vibrant fixture on our wonderful town’s calendar for years to come.

“We’re committed to seeing a future folk festival that offers a weekend of the finest folk music and dance from Britain and beyond while promoting local businesses, supporting the community and generating a warm, family friendly atmosphere around the town.”

He added that the bands are already proving to be a sartorial success.

“The wristbands are a way for people to show their support or simply that they are proud to be Wimborne folk, as we are,” he said.

“They’ve already proved a big hit around the town and are sure to become the must-have accessory for 2013.”

Deputy mayor Andy Hamp-ton, who founded Morgan Hampton estate agents which is selling the wristbands, said he is pleased to support the initiative.

“The folk festival has lots of benefits for Wimborne, and it brings a lot of people into the town,” he said.

“We’re delighted to support the new committee and the festival.”

Following last year’s event, the organisers of the festival said they were retiring after 32 years, but in just a few days, more than 3,000 people from around the world joined the Facebook group Save the Wimborne Folk Festival.

East Dorset District Council, which has backed the event for 20 years and has a year of funding agreement remaining, called for volunteers to come forward and continue with the festival.

Now a committee of six has been formed to breathe new life into the festival, which has been renamed the Wimborne Minster Folk Festival.

The bands, which are £1 each, are available from many of the town’s shops and pubs, and for £2 each including postage from support wimbornefolk.com, or for more information, visit wimbornefolk.com