Farewell to the Big Chill? (From Hereford Times)

Farewell to the Big Chill?

8:00am Monday 21st January 2013 in News

THERE are fears that the Big Chill will never return to Herefordshire after organisers confirmed this week that there would be no festival for the second year running.

A clash with the London Olympics was given as the reason why the world’s pop stars would not de descending on Eastnor Castle in 2012.

And Festival Republic, the management team behind the Big Chill, declined to comment on why this year’s festival was cancelled or whether it would ever return.

The popular music festival has been based at Eastnor Castle since 2002 and welcomed huge names including Leonard Cohen, Jessie J and Kanye West to its stages.

Andy Ward, landlord of the Talbot Hotel in nearby Ledbury, said the latest cancellation is a “sad sign of the times”.

He said: “It’s always sad to lose something that brings in a lot of money and publicity to Ledbury and that less people come to see the area.

“Unfortunately once something stops it is hard to start it up again.”

Neil Ivison, vocalist with Midlands-based band The Misers, said he hopes that this year’s cancellation is just a blip and that the festival will return next year.

He said: “It would be a shame for the festival to end because it helped put Herefordshire on the map."