Hello Friends,

After the success of last year's festival we are all aware that due to the vast crowd that attended we can no longer hold a safe and controlled event on the green.

Since last summer we have received the award for best live local event at the 6 towns radio awards, of which we are extremely proud.

We wanted to find a larger venue in Penkhull and looked at every possibility and had endless meetings trying to find a suitable venue. There is a suitable new home for the event but it is not available until next summer due to building work. We have even looked at using the Spode site but due to the cost of the running the event and the extra money needed to make the site safe and suitable for families, we have run out of time. In these times of recession, because money is becoming more difficult to raise, we have reluctantly decided to have a year off and work on raising funds for the 2014 festival. This will enable us to come back stronger with a community and family orientated festival, most importantly - still based in Penkhull.

Thank you for your continuing support.

The Penkhull Jazz and Blues Festival Committee