PLANS are being put in place to see the return of Whittington Music Festival for 2021.

For eight years Whittington Music Festival brought fans of classical music from near and far to Whittington, but this year’s festival was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Plans are being made for a Festival next year, but with social distancing potentially still affecting audiences and performers, it will be shorter than usual.

However, the trustees hope that the Festival can continue after that and are looking to build up the Festival team so that first-class music can still be enjoyed in north-west Shropshire.

A spokesman for the Festival said organisers were looking at how best to hold the event in a social-distancing friendly way.

“We are delighted that Sophia Rahman, who played for us in 2019, has agreed to be the festival’s artistic director for 2021, and she has some exciting ideas about how we can bring live music once more," they said.

"It may not be easy, particularly as we do not know what the conditions will be next year, so we do not feel we can run a festival on the scale of past years.

"Plans are still being developed and will be announced soon, but if social distancing is still in force we are expecting to have to limit numbers.

“Looking beyond next year we are looking for people to join the team to develop the festival for the future.

"We have had a great series of festivals over the past eight years but a number of key people have now retired from the festival so we need to rebuild our committee so we can continue concerts of the highest quality.

“In these uncertain times it is important that our loyal audience and the musicians who perform for us can see there is a future.

"We are looking for help with planning, promotion or the all-important funding – so vital to the whole festival – and would be delighted to hear from anyone, not necessarily with deep musical knowledge, who would like to be more closely involved in ensuring our unique festival for the future.”