Heartbreak as plug pulled on events

TWO of the region’s most popular events set to take place in July have been called off amid rising rates of coronavirus.

The organisers of both Classic Ibiza at Ragley Hall, taking place on 2nd and 3rd July, and the Warwick Folk Festival slated to go ahead between 15th to 18th July, each announced this week that the events will not take place.

Both have cited mounting infection rates in the area, while the folk festival organisers also explained that the delay in the relaxation of restrictions had forced a re-think.

A statement from Lisa Ward and Katharine Brindley, at Classic Ibiza organisers Revival Productions, said: “We are truly devastated to have to share this news, but unfortunately after a series of meetings with Stratford District Council we have made the hugely difficult decision to cancel Classic Ibiza at Ragley Hall.

“We have worked tirelessly to fully conform to the government’s guidelines on social distancing at Ragley. However, because of rapidly increasing infection rates in the local area, the council has asked us to implement further measures which we feel are both undeliverable in the timeframe and would destroy the Classic Ibiza experience we all love.

“We know that this will come as a massive disappointment, especially at this late stage.”

They added that tickets purchased for this year’s event will be rolled over to next year’s, or people could also opt for a refund.

Warwick Folk Festival director Dick Dixon said the decision had been a tough one to make, but that safety concerns had to be paramount.

“So much hard work by so many people has gone into getting the festival ready and it’s heart-breaking to take the decision to postpone.” he said. “We take the safety and wellbeing of our audience, our artists, our own staff and the local community extremely seriously and we felt the potential risk in going ahead would be too great.

“We looked at all the measures we could take to keep going but we have to think of the bigger picture and protecting everyone from the risks of a local surge in cases.”