Folk festival on track for summer return

Warwick Folk Festival organisers have confirmed their intention of bringing music to the area this summer despite widely reported cancellations from many UK festivals.

Uncertainty over whether Covid restrictions will be eased in time, together with concerns over ticket sales, audience numbers and setting-up costs that can’t be recovered has meant many music festivals either pulling the plug for 2021 or appealing to the Government to step in and underwrite them.

But folk festival director Dick Dixon says the weekend planned for July 15 to 18 this summer will be going ahead as things stand.

After being forced to take a year off in 2020 the festival will be returning at its new Castle Park site.

“We have a great new site and we’ll be set up to keep within the government guidelines for social distancing. We’ll have more toilets, plenty of hand-washing facilities and we even have an extra field if people need to be kept further apart,” said Dixon.

Festival chiefs are also hoping the difficulties of travelling will boost the number of people looking for somewhere to visit in the UK when they start planning time off in the summer.

“You can’t buy a tent at the moment – so many people are planning to stay in this country and look for a holiday here. Festivals will be the perfect opportunity to get a break,” added Dixon. “We will always be sticking to the government guidelines. We may have to cut the number of people we can let in, but we’re adamant we’ll go ahead and provide something the town, and our many lifelong supporters across the country, can look forward to this year.”

Warwick Folk Festival opens on July 15.