BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – (WIVT/WBGH) As it enters the final stretch of its Kickstarter campaign, LUMA is looking to the community for help to ward off a funding crisis for this year’s festival.

This year, the LUMA Projection Arts Festival set a Kickstarter goal of $40,000 and with only one week to go, they’ve raised only a little over half of that. In response, it’s launched the “Keep LUMA Free” campaign to boost funding and keep the festival accessible to everyone in the community.

LUMA Co-founder Joshua Bernard says the Kickstarter is also important because it’s a way to prove to the popularity of the event to potential sponsors and local officials.

“Philosophically, we believe we should offer the community free public art. That is the way we give back to the community because not everyone can afford a $10 ticket, a $20 ticket, a $5 ticket and this is a way, if you care about art, if you care about the community experiencing art, and if you can pay for it but somebody else can’t you’re exactly the person I am talking to,” said Bernard.

LUMA will take place on September 8th and 9th.

Bernard says the campaign is “all of nothing”, meaning in order to receive the money, they must reach the $40,000 goal.

To donate, visit lumafestival.com.