Bridgnorth’s English Haydn festival, one of Shropshire’s best known music events, has been axed this year.
The nine-day event has been scrapped because of ill health suffered by long-term organiser John Reid. It had been due to take place on May 30 and would have been the 16th festival in the town.
Mr Reid today vowed the festival would be back in 2009 to celebrate the bi-centenary of composer Joseph Haydn’s death with a special fortnight-long event.
He said: “Unfortunately we are going to have to close the festival for 2008 because there is about five months’ hard work involved and I can’t do it.
“I am intending to put on a festival in 2009. It will be a two-week event from May 29 performing all the heritage music written for England by Haydn.”
Mr Reid, a professional musician from Newport, said the event usually attracted about 5,000 people to the town and generated about £1.5 million for the economy.
The blow comes as people in Shifnal are being urged to show their “people power” to save the town carnival.
The carnival committee held its last meeting in October and announced it would not be organising this year’s carnival due to lack of help.
But campaigner Dave Humphrey hopes he can make a last ditch attempt to save the event by holding a meeting at Shifnal Youth Club, Bridgnorth Road, at 8pm on Monday to form a new committee.
One Comment
It is interesting that a parallel report in the BBC News website explains the reason for the abandonment of the 2008 Festival in the following words: “Festival director John Reid is having hospital treatment and said there was no funding to pay a replacement”. This means that given the finance, the whole problem would be solved by bringing in a substitute director. I have discussed this with several members of a supporting group of music lovers known as the “Friends of the English Haydn Festival” and they clearly feel that financial support for a replacement director could possibly be found. I know that in recent weeks various offers to assist have been made to the Festival organisation and it will be interesting to learn of the response.