Organisers of this year’s Raglan Festival have been forced to make it a virtual event after lockdown restrictions made it impossible to take place.

Rocky, the Raglan Festival mascot, had been looking forward to seeing the local families and visitors enjoying the Festival Weekend which had been arranged for June 12 -14.

He was very upset when festival chairman, Colwyn Knight, Zoom called him to say that the festival was to be cancelled. Festival chair, Col Knight, said “The Festival Team are all very disappointed to have cancelled the Music Weekend this year. We had worked really hard back in March to have booked all the performers and venues in readiness for publication, as well as securing support from our annual sponsors.

‘‘Everyone has been really understanding of the situation despite looking forward to a big party. We could all do with one at the moment!

‘‘Our thoughts and best wishes go out to everyone who is isolating, especially our elderly friends and those who are vulnerable in the village.

‘‘We also think of Festival Friend Jonny Quick who passed away recently. We always looked forward to his performances, presented with cheeky humour and melodic tones.”

Organisers say they have Rocky to thank for the virtual idea after seeing children playing with their families in their gardens and the idea came into his head.

He told the festival committee of his plan to involve the village families in fun competitions, games and activities during and after the weekend of June 12. The Festival Committee, who had been down in the dumps because the weekend had been cancelled, thanked him for his great ideas and started to plan.

“If it wasn’t for the social distancing, I would have given Rocky a big hug” said Colwyn, the Festival Chairman. “Please make Rocky happy and get involved in our virtual festival.” There are lots of ideas and fun competitions for families to get involved with and Rocky has offered to pay for prizes for the best entries!

The Festival Committee hope to organise a live event in the village as soon as the lockdown is fully lifted. For more details visit the Raglan Festival website www.raglan-festival.com or follow on Facebook.