The Cambridge Folk Festival will not go ahead this year, it has been announced.

Anyone who has already purchased tickets for the festival will be offered a choice of a full refund or rolling their tickets forward to 2022 at 2020 prices.

In line with an earlier decision, the city’s Big Weekend event will not go ahead either.

“We had already decided to do the Big Weekend differently this year, and we have now reached the conclusion we will not be able to hold the Cambridge Folk Festival either. This has been an incredibly difficult decision, and it is not one any of us wanted to make,” said Cllr Anna Smith, executive councillor for communities at Cambridge City Council.

“Together, these events bring tens of thousands of people to Cambridge, including hundreds of artists and music fans. They are a much-loved part of summers in the city. However, there is a great deal of uncertainty over how large-scale events might take place. Having explored every option, the reality is that we cannot sensibly continue to plan for these major events in 2021.

"Our first priority always has to be the health and safety of our residents, audiences, staff, artists and contractors.”

The council says it will organise a series of small-scale community events taking place around the city as well as online events.

“We all need something to look forward to, and I’m pleased to say we are hard at work on a programme of small-scale events for our neighbourhoods,” Cllr Smith explained.

“Having fewer people in attendance will make it easier to manage safely even if we are required to keep social distancing in place alongside other safety measures.”

“We are all so upset not to have the Folk Festival at Cherry Hinton Hall and the Big Weekend on Parker’s Piece this summer, but we can look forward to their return in 2022.”

Details of this summer’s programme will be announced in the coming weeks.