Southend Festival Cancelled

April 6, 2020

In light of the current COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, the Southend Business Improvement District (BID) has taken the decision to cancel the Southend Festival which was due to take place across the high street and seafront this Summer.

The Southend Festival is an annual celebration that is bursting with creative energy from both local emerging talents and established professionals. The programme of events which explores art, comedy, music, literature, theatre and much more was due to take place 5 – 21 June but has been cancelled to ensure the safety of the public in the midst of current circumstances.

“We are disappointed that we have had to take this decision but keeping the public and our performers safe is our first priority. We are grateful to our partners for the efforts they have already put into helping plan this year’s event but we cannot continue to organise the festival for 2020 without a known end point to these essential social distancing measures.” said Southend BID Manager, Suzanne Gloyne.

“We’ve received a great response to the open call last month looking for local talent to get involved so we know that when we come back in 2021 we will be putting on a great celebration in the heart of the community for residents, visitors and businesses.”

Last year’s event was jam packed with over 100 different activities including music events, Chalkfest, comedy shows, more than 40 artists on an art trail, street theatre, poetry slam and more. The focus will shift to planning for the 2021 event, the dates of which will be announced in due course.

Suzanne added “These are unprecedented times and the BID will continue to deliver a range of activities to support the business community. Our Street Rangers will continue to patrol the high street and seafront and be the eyes and ears of businesses.”

For more information about the Southend BID, visit www.southendbid.com. For more information on the festival, click on www.thesouthendfestival.co.uk , like the Facebook page @TheSouthendFestival, or follow @VisitSouthend on Twitter.