Town's festival is scrapped

3:23pm Thursday 14th August 2008

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The second biggest festival in Chippenham has been scrapped due to poor ticket sales and mammoth debts.

The Chippenham Festival, which had been running for six years, was pulled this year and the committee has been dissolved.

The festival, second only in size to the folk festival, proved a huge hit in its first few years but in its fourth year the community-based project lost a whopping £15,000.

During its six years the festival showcased some major talent including poet Pam Ayres, children's author Dick King-Smith and magician Geoffrey Durham.

Last year, under the guidance of newly elected chairman Jane Clark, the festival managed to pay off the debt and all of the interest from the loan the previous committee had to take out.

She said that the decision to scrap the festival was one of the hardest she and the committee has had to make.

She said: "When you are only selling a fraction of the tickets, you have to know when enough is enough.

"It was very sad to finally admit we had to finish but we were down to just three committee members and it was physically impossible.

"I think that it is a great shame and a loss to the people of Chippenham because we brought in world-class artists and performers.

"At the moment there are no plans underway for a new committee to step in and try to rerun the festival."

The news that the festival has been scrapped has come as a shock to many in the town.

Dance teacher Helen Felix-Jones, 28, of Queens Crescent, said: "I think it is a shame that people are less and less interested in supporting the arts. This is a blow to Chippenham."