After 16 years as chief executive of Harrogate’s leading arts festival, Sharon Canavar has some stories. Ms Canavar leads Harrogate International Festivals, a charity founded in 1966 to revive the town’s culture. Its annual programme includes HACS Harrogate Music Festival, Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Berwins Salon North, Harrogate International Sunday Series and Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival. HIF gets nothing from Arts Council England and its annual local authority grant has shrunk to £24,000 — a sum agreed by Harrogate Borough Council before it was abolished two years ago. Its successor authority, North Yorkshire Council, has yet to confirm what support, if any, it will give.