Bognor's Southdowns Folk Festival falls victim to the pandemic

The 2020 Southdowns Folk Festival – based in Bognor Regis – has become the latest major event to fall victim to the pandemic.
Steve Harley was due to appearSteve Harley was due to appear
Steve Harley was due to appear

This year’s September festival will not be taking place.

Festival chairman Roger Nash said: “Whereas a few short weeks ago there was cautious optimism that this year’s Festival could go ahead, recent developments and growing uncertainty have meant that with enormous sadness, this popular event will be postponed until next year with the new dates being September 16 to 19.

“All the indications from Government are that social distancing will be in place for the foreseeable future in order to continue the struggle against Covid-19 and help protect the NHS.

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“This makes it almost impossible to use our indoor Festival venues, both in terms of keeping audiences safe and the adverse financial impact this will have.

“Further, we cannot even be sure that these venues will be available by September plus Arun District and West Sussex County Councils are not allowing any road closures or events on their land at this moment in time.

“Therefore, in these unprecedented circumstances, we feel that postponement is the most responsible course of action we can take in order protect future festivals as well as fully protect our audiences, volunteers, performers, venues, suppliers and contractors.

“We are rolling-over our entire Festival programme into 2021 and are currently talking with headline artists, other performers, stall holders, local authorities and our festival venues about appearing and hosting events between September 16 and 19 next year.

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“We can confirm that we have had very positive responses from these discussions and we envisage that our Festival programme featuring Steve Harley, The Strawbs and Steve Knightley amongst others, plus the popular Ukulele Festival and the inaugural Americana Festival on the Pier, will very much mirror what would have taken place this year with the possibility of one or two exciting additions.

“As before, there’ll be loads of free events, great festival markets, dance displays, Big Seaside Sing, Shanty Showdowns, sessions, free workshops plus more. Festival outreach projects, in particular Making Your Mark free ukulele sessions and Musical Minds, will continue over the next 18 months either online and at the right time, with a series of mini events and concerts culminating at the 2021 event.

“If you already have either a four-day festival ticket, individual evening concert ticket or tickets for the Americana Festival, we ask you to be patient. You will be contacted by either the Festival organisers, the Regis Centre and WeGotTickets to ask if you would like to roll over your tickets for 2021 which would be very helpful or would like a refund. Festival ticket prices will remain exactly the same.

“If you have paid as a Festival market stallholder, the market operators will be in contact, and once again, payments made can be rolled over to the 2021 event or refunds made. Please be patient but any queries should be e-mailed to: [email protected]. Rest assured, we will deal with your preferences as quickly as possible. In the meantime, stay safe and we look forward to coming back next year even bigger and better.”

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