Bishop's Castle's Michaelmas Fair called off over shortage of volunteers

Bishop's Castle's Michaelmas Fair is one of the busiest days of the year for the town, but with only five committee members, organisers say they have a chronic shortage of manpower to run it.

Last year the two-day festival, which takes place on the third week of September, brought in about 6,000 people with a host of events, entertainment and stalls filling up the town centre.

But with organisers stretched to breaking point and the fair struggling to cover costs, the decision to take a year off to regroup for 2015 has been announced .

John Lucas, who has chaired the Michaelmas Fair committee in the past, said: "Basically we haven't got enough people to help run it, it's a very big and complicated event to organise.

"There are only five of us on the committee and it's just got too much. We've decided to have a year off.

"I think there are too many things going on in Bishop's Castle and it stretches the people willing to volunteer."

He said the decision would not be popular with the town's businesses.

"It will impact on trade, there's no two ways about it," he said.

"It's normally the busiest weekend of the year. Last year we talked about not doing it and all the pubs screamed to keep it going, but we probably shouldn't have because it was very stretched."

He said while funding the festival was always a challenge, it was not the main issue.

And he said he hoped the move would buy the committee extra time to get everything in place for the following year.

"The intention is that in 2015 we'll be doing it again, providing we get more people on the committee.

"You've got more time to plan and organise, and for people to get their feet under the table."

Diane Malley, clerk of Bishop's Castle Town Council, said the matter would be discussed by the town council at a meeting next Tuesday. Anyone interested in helping the committee can call (01588) 630097 or email info@michaelmasfair.co.uk