A POPULAR music festival held in Denbighshire has been postponed for the second year running due to the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Organisers have once again decided to call off Ruthin Festival’s Top of Town event.

Ruthin Festival has taken place in the town since 1994 and is a week long series of musical and cultural events held at various venues in the town.

It culminates in the well attended Top of Town event on the last Saturday of the week on St Peters Square with seven hours of music and dance for the whole community.

Festival committee Chair Gwion Tomos said: "We are disappointed once again to have to announce that the festival’s Top of Town event will not be taking place.

"We looked at every option to try to make the event happen but the nature of the square in terms of the space for social distancing and crowd control, as well as of course our primary concern for the safety of the public attending and abiding by the COVID rules made holding the event impossible."

The festival’s Top of Town event in 2019 was a major success and the festival is wholly organised by a small group of volunteers who form the committee.

The decision to cancel for a second year has been left until the last possible moment, organisers say.

Festival committee vice-chair Jim Bryan said: "It has been and continues to be almost impossible to plan an event for the public to attend due to the COVID restrictions. We are fully aware of the disappointment this will cause to local residents and businesses, but none more than the small group of volunteers who make the event happen every year.

"We would like to make clear that some of the events that normally happen during the festival week in venues around Ruthin might go ahead but are obviously dependent on the COVID rules at the time."

Committee members say they are looking at holding a series of digital events later in 2021 and currently working towards projects to secure the long term future of the event.

They are also focusing on bringing the festival back in 2022.

Anyone interested in joining the voluntary committee should email the following address -

gwylrhuthun-ruthinfestival@hotmail.co.uk