It is with heavy hearts that the committee and I have to announce the cancellation of this year’s Padstow Christmas Festival, which was due to take place from Thursday 3 to Sunday 6 December 2020. This has not been an easy decision to make, and we would like to thank everyone involved in the festival for their unwavering support.

The festival is a highlight in the South West’s event calendar for so many people, bringing thousands of visitors to our town during the winter season - and whilst we know the cancellation of this year’s festival is very disappointing, the safety of our local residents, volunteers, visitors, chefs, suppliers, and stallholders is our main priority.

It takes months of planning to organise and deliver an event of this scale, and the uncertainty around social distancing measures, and whether it will be possible to stage large gatherings, mean it is not possible for the event to go ahead this year.

We are very grateful for the continued support from our lead sponsor, Sharp’s Brewery. Communications manager, Rachel Williams, said: “As longstanding lead sponsors of the Padstow Christmas Festival, we are of course saddened that the event will not be able to go ahead this year. We are, however, fully supportive of the organisers’ decision to cancel the event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival really is one of the highlights of our events calendar, and we are very much looking forward to returning in the future, bringing our usual passion for beer and food to the harbourside at Padstow.”

The dates for next year’s festival have been provisionally agreed with Padstow Harbour Commissioners, and will take place from Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 December 2021.

We will look forward to welcoming everyone back to Padstow again for next year’s festival.

From Tina Evans, festival organiser.