Major comedy festival axed over safety concerns

A major outdoor comedy and music festival has been cancelled with just days to go.

Dara O Briain, Josh Widdicombe, Desiree Burch and Mark Watson were among the comedians due to appear at Picnic In The Park in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, starting on Thursday.

However, today organisers decided to pull the plug, citing safety concerns amid rising coronavirus cases across the UK.

The event had been spearheaded by celebrity chef Tom Kerridge and his Pub In The Park team, which previously organised a string of drive-in gigs fronted by Watson.

In a statement, Kerridge said: ‘In the last few days, it has become clear that the national picture is changing dramatically and there are significant new risk factors which aren’t yet clearly understood. 

‘While we are really disappointed to take this decision, our priority has always been the safety of all involved and our home town of Marlow."

Watson tweeted:  ‘These are off. It's been so much work and it's a(nother) huge financial blow but people's safety comes first. Going to change my Twitter header and retrain as a welder.’

Angela Barnes, Tom Allen and Reginald D Hunter were also due to play the festival, followed by musicians Jack Savoretti on Saturday and Rick Astley on Sunday,

A statement from the Pub in the Park team said: ‘We have been proud to operate 14 successful socially distanced events this summer since the rules allowed, but at no point have we taken risks with the health of our visitors. We have delivered a large amount of joy in a safe and reassuring way.

‘We are sorry to disappoint everyone who was planning to attend. We will keep inventing safe ways to have fun, always working closely with the authorities and within the guidelines. We would like to thank all our amazing customers, our artists, our chefs, and our team, all of whom have supported us this summer.

‘We hope to be able to present this brilliant line-up of talent in Marlow at some point in the future.’’

Ticket-holders will be refunded ‘immediately’.

Published: 21 Sep 2020