Music festival cancelled for second year

Popular music festival The Musical Mystery Tour has been cancelled for a second year after organisers decided the risks were too great to stage the event.

The annual event takes place in the town centre at the end of August and involves multiple venues staging live music throughout the day, The festival attracts thousands in to the town from a wide area and features over a hundred artists performing in pubs, eateries and other venues.

Hertford Music Festival Co-Chairman Kev Saunders commented: "This has been an incredibly difficult decision, but taking all things in to account we believe this is the right thing to do.

"Just like everyone else we are desperate to see the return of live music but under current conditions we cannot justify taking the risks involved in staging the event."

The town's other big music event Rock At The Castle has also been cancelled and replaced with a scaled down event.

It is hoped that the festival will return in August 2022.

Full statement from the festival organisers

With the heaviest of hearts, we have to announce that we can’t go ahead with the Musical Mystery Tour this year.

Unlike conventional gated festivals we have no control at all over access - and, because our event is by nature a 'tour', it involves people moving around and mingling more than any other kind of live music event. That, combined with official 'guidance' that effectively makes us potentially liable for what happens in up to 30 venues over which we have no control, means it’s impossible for us to keep our (mostly unvaccinated and/or at high risk) volunteers, engineers, security team, litter pickers and, of course, musicians safe. The clincher, though, was the news that we are unable to renew our Public Liability and Employer’s Liability insurance - leaving us with a terrifying degree of personal exposure.

It's taken a lot of agonizing and listing of the pros and cons to reach this decision but, sadly, in the end the arguments for cancelling were overwhelming. We're painfully sorry to be forced to disappoint everyone - but we'd rather wait till 2022 for a full-on renaissance than risk the lives and health of the people who make the event happen - not to mention the audience and their contacts.