The organisers of Sidmouth Folk Festival have announced today that this year's event has been cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The festival was scheduled to run from July 31 to August 7 in Sidmouth, with more than 700 individual events and headline artists including Steeleye Span, Fisherman's Friends, Show of Hands, Eddi Reader, Jon Boden and the Remnant Kings and Eliza Carthy.

Sidmouth Folk Festival is known as a festival that spans the generations, 'carrying the folk tradition safely into the future'. This will be its first fallow year in an unbroken 65-year run.

Dates have now been set for the 2021 festival – July 30 to August 6 – and preparations are already under way to make this an extra special party for both the town and the folk music and dance lovers who visit each year.

All 2020 ticket holders will be contacted directly to arrange rollover or refund options.

A spokesperson for the festival team said: "It is with an extremely heavy heart that we have had to take the decision to cancel this year's Sidmouth Folk Festival for the wellbeing of all involved.

"Breaking a continuous history of 65 festivals may feel devastating, but the wellbeing of all involved in attending and running the festival is paramount. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic clearly makes it impossible to proceed with the 2020 event.

"Plans are already underway for the 2021 festival in which you can expect so much of what our audiences love about this grand old festival. We will be talking to artists and suppliers in the next few days.

"We will be contacting all 2020 ticket buyers directly over the next few weeks with a variety of ticket rollover and refund options. Please bear with us whilst we get all the necessary arrangements in place. We will be back to you as soon as we can.

"We know that this announcement will cause disappointment and inconvenience. We will all miss catching up with old friends and being together at the seaside this year. We thank everyone for their understanding and support.

"Please keep checking the website for any new developments.

"We look forward to reuniting everyone on our return next year, July 30 to August 6 2021. In the meantime, we wish everyone and their loved ones the very best of health in these strange times."

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