Coronavirus: Cheddar Arts Festival Walking Trail is called off

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the hugely popular Cheddar Arts Festival's Walking Arts Trail has been postponed.

Many artists, the organising committee and other volunteers had already put a huge amount of work into preparing for this year's Cheddar Arts Festival.

However, the organisers have said they are also concerned for the near future and the impact the coronavirus outbreak is going to have on people's lives.

In a statement they said: "In the light of the events we've been witnessing around the world, it is with great sadness that the committee have taken the decision to postpone this year's walking arts trail.

"We want to protect contributors and visitors from the risk of the spread of infection. We are all facing uncertainty and, although we can't know for certain that a large public event won't be possible by May, it seems likely.

"If it is possible at all, it will be immediately following a period of quarantine and economic downturn providing reduced time for preparation and a less than perfect environment for high attendance and for artists to sell their work.

"Two of our main shared venues are schools and have taken a decision not to accept external bookings until further notice. We would be losing crucial venue space and there are no suitable alternatives in the village.

"We need to minimise our losses. The closer we get to the festival, the more we have to spend on associated costs and we don't want to risk any unnecessary outlay when the resources could be put to better use in future.

"Other associated events have already been forced to cancel and we expect much more disruption to follow.

"So what next? We propose the following. The next full-scale Walking Arts Trail is in May 2021.

"If there is an extended period of enforced isolation there simply won't be enough time to re-schedule the whole trail on the same scale for a date later in the year.

"We focus on providing smaller opportunities throughout the year, after the current situation is under control, to maintain the profile of Cheddar artists and develop the relationships we've built with all our of many and varied contributors and associated event holders.

"We need a little time to be clear about the events we will offer given that this has had to be a quick decision but they are likely to include a highly visible presence for artists at Cheddar Food and Drink Festival on Sunday September 13 (please keep this free if you can), a programme of smaller exhibitions in the autumn/winter, social media exposure throughout the year (not just before and during the festival), virtual and online opportunities through our website.

"We ensure there is just as much collaboration and animation of Cheddar Arts Festival 2021 as there would have been this year by spending the time between now and May 2021 building on the links made with other community groups, clubs and volunteers, and local businesses.

"The planned installation created by Sara and Katrina to celebrate VE Day is launched this year, at a suitable time to ensure maximum exposure.

"We propose this is likely to be the Food and Drink Festival weekend. There were more than 4,500 visitors to the Food and Drink Festival last year so this should be a great opportunity for all concerned.

"This would be a delayed opportunity for the village to mark the VE Day anniversary and we hope many of you will be able to join us in this.

"We realise this is a difficult time for all of us, and we can't tell you how disappointed we are to have to make this decision but by the time we emerge on the other side of whatever might happen next, we will be ready and very much in need of the power of art.

"If you would like to be involved in planning what happens later this year, please get in touch. All ideas are very welcome.

"When you've had time to digest the news, we'll be in touch to get started on Plan B."