THE organiser of a major Furness festival says he is ‘devastated’ that the event will not now go ahead as planned due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Another Fine Fest, one of the biggest entries on Ulverston’s events calendar, usually takes place in June and draws thousands to the town.

But festival director Dave Crossley has announced it will not go ahead, but reserved hope for another kind of celebration if lockdown measures are lifted.

He said: “We’ve been watching the events unfold over the last few weeks, with growing concern and sadness, but all the while grasping onto some hope that this would all blow over.

"Obviously as it stands, this does not seem likely in the foreseeable future.

“We are devastated, but feel that we are unable to continue with the festival as planned.

“Even if restrictions have been lifted by June , the uncertainty is making the run up pretty much an impossibility. We’ve already spent many months working on AFF2020 and right now is usually one of our busiest times of the year, organising all of the very many elements which make up the festival, not least of which is booking the infrastructure and paying multiple deposits which we simply can’t afford to lose as insurance will not cover us.

“It is also around this time that we ask for support via sponsorship, advertising & crowdfunding, vital income streams that allow us to host our event, but asking you, our wonderful supporters for cash right now feels entirely inappropriate when so many of us are understandably worried about our financial futures."