Shrewsbury Comedy Festival cancelled due to coronavirus
Shrewsbury Comedy Festival has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The festival, which was due to feature comedians including Radio 4’s Tom Wrigglesworth, recent Mock The Week debutant Chris Washington and bona fide “next big thing” Scott Bennett, is the latest major event to fall victim to the virus.
Organiser Kevin Bland said: "Regretfully, we have taken the decision to cancel the festival, which had been due to run July16 to 19, due to the current situation.
"This is a total cancellation, so includes all Edinburgh previews, solo shows, mixed bill shows, the comedy course and the Gala Show.
Covid-19 coverage:
"Obviously, we are devastated to have to do this. We invest our heart and soul, time and no little amount of money into the festival every year and we're gutted we won't be able to welcome you to our beautiful town to enjoy the line up we were, once again, intensely proud of.
"Clearly once the Edinburgh Festival was cancelled it put a different light on the Shrewsbury Comedy Festival, which is predominantly set up as an Edinburgh preview opportunity, however this decision is made with everyone's safety and wellbeing in mind.
"We will be back next year though, and we are just working on getting the dates tied down, so please bear with us.
"As we’ve previously stated, we feel a duty of care to our audiences, our venues and their staff, our fantastic volunteers and of course the acts. That duty of care extends to physical and mental health, general wellbeing and livelihoods too."
