All of this year’s popular outdoor music events in Burnham-On-Sea’s Manor Gardens have been cancelled amid concerns about the Coronavirus pandemic.
Organiser Mike Murphy from CADS, the Burnham and Highbridge Cultural Arts and Development Society, has told Burnham-On-Sea.com that the ‘difficult’ decision has been taken to cancel all of this year’s events.
The first outdoor event of the season, Party In The Park, had been due to be held at the start of May but has been cancelled, along with the other three events.
Mike confirmed to Burnham-On-Sea.com: “I have decided to cancel the CADs events in the Manor Gardens this year – the predictions are that it will be 10-14 weeks for the peak of Coronavirus and a similar time for reductions after the peak.”
“We are already seeing substantial increases in cases of infection across the UK which cannot be ignored. The pattern could also be mirroring Italy.”
He adds: “I am very sorry to cancel our much-loved free CADS events, which began in 1994 with Lark in the Park and progressed with Party, Jazz and Picnic in the Park.”
“I plan to bring them back in 2021 when the virus is hopefully long gone. Thank you to all who have supported CADS events over the last 26 years. It’s not over – just postponed for now.”
He added that no decision has yet been taken on the Highbridge CADS music event yet, which is scheduled to take place in August on the town’s Recreation Ground. He explained that the Highbridge event attracts lower spectator numbers than Burnham’s events and noted that the site has toilets nearby with hand washing facilities.
Separately, Tanya Dyer from Burnham’s annual BOSfest music festival added: “The cancellations in Burnham refer to the CADS events. As part of this year’s BOSfest we do have a day of music in the park planned this year and the event is scheduled to take place on the 4th, 5th and 6th September, with the music on the 6th taking place in Manor Gardens. At the moment this is still going ahead, as is the whole event, although we will be monitoring the situation closely and will adhere to any government direction nearer the time.”
