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A summer of fun as events go ahead

blackmorevaleMarch 23, 20210 Comment0

Shaftesbury is to host two summer events after the government laid out a roadmap back to allowing festivals and events.

The town’s Fringe Festival will go ahead, as will the Gold Hill Fair but both will be drastically reduced in scale and ambition. Other events are adapting and taking place, including music and literary events in Sherborne and Shaftesbury. The Verve Wellness Festival on Cranborne Chase and Sturminster Newton Cheese Festival are also going ahead.

But the organisers of the Great Dorset Steam Fair have called it a day. Managing director Martin Oliver said pre-planning was at a critical stage. “With the roadmap timelime not guaranteed, there is still too much uncertainty,” he said. “We offer our sincere apologies to all involved: we are equally as disappointed that for a second consecutive year there will be no show. However, not running the show again this year is the right and responsible thing to do on all counts.”

The roadmap says that outdoor performances with up to 4,000 people will be allowed from May 17. Bigger festivals are looking to Step Four, starting on June 21 at the earliest, which would remove restriction on numbers and social distancing. But with no insurance available or government backing, many events such as the Steam Fair are not taking the risk of the roadmap changing. The Larmer Tree Festival and Sherborne Supercar events in July had already been cancelled.

The Fringe Festival in Shaftesbury, normally in July, has been shifted to the August Bank Holiday weekend of August 27-30, the weekend the Steam Fair would have taken place. Few Fringe details have emerged but it is expected that most events will take place outside, with fewer indoor venues and more of a local focus.

Shaftesbury Fringe Festival

The Gold Hill Fair will take place in Shaftesbury on July 4, but the venue has been shifted from Park Walk to the field at Barton Hill. The annual Rotary event will be a music and community event, with a stage and 40 craft and food stalls.

Gold Hill Fair

Meanwhile, the Verve Wellness event will this year be a one-day event, held at Pythouse Kitchen Garden on September 25 with a limit of 250 tickets at £59 each. Organisers Anna and Charlotte said the event will feature fitness, yoga, meditation, breathwork and sound bathing in the walled gardens. There will also be music, workshops and nature walks and talks. “Rest assured, we will be working closely with health and safety experts to ensure the festival is safe and compliant with all covid-19 regulations.”

Verve Wellness Festival

It’s a similar story for the Cheese Festival in Stur. “We may need to adapt slightly but as long as the government roadmap goes to plan we look forward to welcoming traders & visitors on September 11-12,” says the website.

Stur Cheese Festival

Other events are adapting. The Sherborne Abbey Music Festival in May is off but is looking to stage open-air concerts later in the summer. The inaugural Shaftesbury Book Festival has also been moved to March 20-21, 2022.