Organisers scrap wartime event

Plans for a repeat of Oswestry's 1940s festival have been scrapped - because of too many competing events.

Organisers of the Operation Home Front festival, which attracts thousands of visitors to the town, today confirmed it will not take place this year.

For the last two years, Oswestry has stepped back in time to 1943 to focus on life in a market town during World War II, with wartime vehicles, soldiers and airmen parading through the streets for the three-day event.

But Oswestry Borderland Tourism, which organises the event, says it will not be going ahead this year, because of the town's busy 2007 events calender.

There are already a host of events this year to mark Oswestry School's 600th anniversary. Oswestry could also be vying with Ludlow as Shropshire's culinary capital this year thanks to a two-day food and drink festival planned for the summer.

Sue Ellis, of Oswestry Borderland Tourism, said it did not want to congest the event calender any further. She said: "We have a large number of events in the town this year and we don't want to clash with anything.

"It is the 600th anniversary of Oswestry School, there is the food and drink festival, and a hill fort festival planned for September.

"We didn't want to clash, so we have given ourselves a break this year, but we plan to do it again next year."

Despite the cancellation, Miss Ellis said there were still plans for some 1940s-themed activities.

"We are looking at our events programme at the moment," she said. "Some 1940s events may be part of that to keep the interest for next year, but that is not confirmed yet."

The festival has seen re-enactors from every walk of wartime life, exhibitions, a pageant, a Blitz ball and a procession including wartime vehicles and even a Winston Churchill lookalike.

Last year's festival drew some 7,500 visitors, bringing about £250,000 into the town's economy