Smash hit, but that's all folks

Today, organisers of The Clitheroe Great Days Festival, which normally takes place in June, appealed for more volunteers to come forward to ensure the event has a future.

The festival has grown in size every year for the last decade, and next summer's would have been the 12th.

A variety of world music acts from across the globe performed across three days at the last one.

In addition, street attractions and a children's festival helped make the event one of the biggest summer attractions in the Ribble Valley.

Visitors traditionally stayed at campsites around the town.

Seamus Heffernan, press officer at The Great Days Festival, said: "The 2005 festival was, in many ways, the biggest and best to date.

"The three-day event was well received by both local residents, and visitors to the town.

"But while the festival has grown steadily in recent years, the organising committee of volunteers has not.

"We are acutely aware of the status of Great Days in comparison to other UK festivals, the majority of which receive substantial funding and often operate with at least one salaried worker. Despite the growth from a one-day folk event to a well-established feature of the local calendar, the event has borne a human cost and is unsustainable at the current level of support."

The committee plans to meet with organisations which have assisted it in the past to help devise a new way of creating the festival.

While some organisations have been supportive of the festival, others have not.

Ribble Valley Council contributed £1,000 a year.

But Lancashire County Council has turned down cash requests in the past.

Ribble Valley Council tourism and arts officer, Rebecca Kay, said: "The Clitheroe Great Days Festival was on track to becoming a truly distinct event and we are really sad to hear there will be no event next year."

People wanting to help the festival should contact Clitheroe Great Days of Folk Ltd, PO Box 33, Clitheroe, BB7 1GP.