COLCHESTER’S Free Festival has been cancelled.

Organisers Mark De’ath and Andrew Winmill have announced today the event will not take place this year.

Andrew said: “Last year we took a leap of faith and attempted to grow the event to two days.

“The aim was to become more attractive to partners, funders and sponsors alike and help us secure our longterm sustainability.

“We are proud of what we achieved given the resources available but we didn’t attract the level of support we were hoping for going forward.

“In 2015, the two day event cost over £50,000 to organise.

“A small amount by many festivals’ standards but still a significant sum for a volunteer group running a free entry event.”

Marc added: “Colchester is in a unique position for a town of its size, having three National Portfolio Art Organisations, but also having an exceptional volume of creative talent, organising things at grass roots.

“We need to be making much more of that. Colchester Borough Council has remained committed to funding established institution such as Firstsite, Colchester Art Centre and Mercury Theatre.

“However, the recent cancellations of Colchester Film Festival and Colchester Carnival Fun Day shows that the Borough could be a lot better at nurturing the community led culture that’s already bubbling beneath the surface.

“It’s not just about financial contributions. Money aside, I feel there was an opportunity for a lot more strategic round table conversations about how we can all work collectively to keep things going.

“These kind of conversations haven’t been forthcoming — this coupled with increased financial pressures have led us to decide not to run the event in 2016.”

The annual festival is held in Castle Park and is run entirely by unpaid volunteers.