Wychavon District Council is ‘disappointed’ that work delays caused the cancellation of a major event in Evesham.
The 2022 River Festival has been postponed due to the development of the Waterside toilet block in Workman Gardens.
The work was meant to be completed in May but due to a variety of reasons, the finishing date has now been pushed back to July.
Sharon Casswell, head of client services for Wychavon District Council, believes that nothing could have been done to stop the delays.
“We are saddened by the decision to cancel this year’s Evesham River Festival but understand the reasons why,” she said.
“We have been in discussions with the main organiser since April to discuss potential issues caused by the ongoing work to build our new and improved Waterside toilets, to try and find solutions to allow the festival to go-ahead.
“It is disappointing we are in this position but unfortunately none of the delays to work on the new toilet block could have been foreseen or prevented by us.
“We continue to enjoy a positive relationship with the organisers of the River Festival and look forward to working with them to make next year’s event bigger and better than ever.”
READ MORE: Evesham River Festival 2022 cancelled
Ms Casswell explained that whilst the toilet block itself will be open in time for the festival, they will only be accessible from Waterside and not Workman Gardens.
This is because of the need to complete surrounding groundworks.
She added that the council did offer to provide portable toilets, as well as the use of Crown Meadow and Abbey Park as alternative sites.
“But each of these options presented different challenges that could not be overcome,” added Ms Casswell.
The Evesham River Festival was cancelled in both 2020 and 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic and so, this week’s announcement means the festival will not take place until July 8, 2023.
A statement on the event’s Facebook page read: “Unfortunately, the Evesham River Festival will not be able to go ahead this year due to circumstances out of our control.
“Thank you to everyone for their continued support of this wonderful local event.
“We want to make next year's event a showcase event for the river and the town and planning is already underway.”
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