Wet summer brings the curtain down on popular Ludlow Festival
Ludlow Festival, the annual Festival of the Arts held in the south Shropshire market town is to end it was revealed today.
The Festival, which is run by a voluntary group and takes place over a fortnight during the summer includes theatre, music and spoken word events.
The organisers are blaming this summer’s wet weather for the decision to end the annual event.
Speaking on behalf of the society, Festival Chair, Roy Coles said:
"With heavy hearts and great sadness, we are sorry to announce that Ludlow Festival Society Limited will no longer be able to stage an annual summer festival of the arts.
“It is no secret that we were hit extremely hard by the appalling wet weather which badly affected our sales, resulting in major losses. The Trustee Directors have worked tirelessly since the end of the 2012 Festival to explore all other options before making this decision.
“Despite having tremendous voluntary support, but without public subsidy and with increased competition, we no longer have the ready finances to move forward and support a festival for another year.
“Obviously this is not the situation we wanted and we are truly sad to be ending such an historic and established festival. We hope that, at some stage in the future, a Ludlow Arts Festival will be revived for future generations to enjoy.
“We should like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have supported the Festival over the years, particularly our many volunteers, our return visitors and the loyal Friends of Ludlow Festival who have been so supportive. Thank you all."
The first Ludlow Festival production was in 1960 with a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ directed by David Williams with just three supporting events.
Venues for the festival included Ludlow Castle, St Laurence's Church, Ludlow Assembly Rooms and Ludlow Brewery.
