TWO festivals planned for the summer will no longer be going ahead this year, following a "lack of guidance from the government on managing large scale events".

Origin Festival and Salisbury Comedy Festival were due to take place at Hudson's Field on August 6 and 7, but yesterday, June 28, it was announced the events will not be going ahead as planned.

Organisers had previously told the Journal these two events would be going ahead even if the lockdown roadmap remained in Step 3, however in a new statement the team has revealed that "current delays and uncertainty around easing lockdown measures" has put "extra strain" on the planning of these independent events.

The statement says: "Following the Government’s announcement to delay the move to Step 4, we have been carefully monitoring the situation and considering how this will impact [the two festivals].

"Current delays and uncertainty around easing lockdown measures puts extra strain on independent festival organisers like us, who are already under pressure to deliver events with no Covid-related insurance or government backing.

"Our team has been working extremely hard to ensure that the festival is happening this year, however, with the lack of guidance from the government on managing large scale events, we have had to make an exceptionally difficult decision to reschedule."

Organised by the former Bank owner and now chief executive of the Tiki Group, Nathan Muirhead, these two events were going to be the first of their kind in the city, to bring joy and fun to Salisbury after the hardships of the pandemic.

The Salisbury Comedy Festival line-up had featured stars including Frankie Boyle, Dara Ó Briain, Seann Walsh and local comedian Andrew White.

The nineties-inspired music festival had plans to bring S Club, Tinchy Stryder, Liberty X and Simon Webbe to the stage.

Origin Festival will now take place next year on Saturday, July 30, and the comedy festival will take place on July 31.

Tickets will automatically be transferred to the new dates, but explainers and options are currently being emailed to those who bought tickets.

The statement added: "We recognise that you will share our disappointment. To say sorry, we will be offering all ticket holders exclusive discounts on our other planned events in Salisbury, Bournemouth and Southampton over the autumn and winter.

"We would like to thank you for supporting local businesses such as ourselves who are working hard to enhance the city and rebuild the economy."

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