I have been assured by the land owners of the showground, Berwick Estate, that they wish to support the Shrewsbury Folk Festival and will make the showground available to the festival for 2010 and thereafter.

Nothing is sure in life but the festival has many friends, sponsors, councillors and council officials wishing to see the festival continue on the showground, I am feeling very confident that this will be the case.

When I can confirm that we will be using the showground next year I will do so.

Health and Safety at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival is of paramount concern to me, and always has been. In fact Sandra and I are attending an IOSH course at present organised by Shropshire Council. The purling in our dance tent which became dislodged this year could in no way be blamed on the festival organisers. The tent was installed by the owners (Burgoynes), one of the biggest and most well respected Marquee companies in the UK. The festival could not have known there could be a problem and the marquee was inspected and passed as good by Shropshire Environmental Health department before the festival began. When the problem occurred stewards cleared the structure and the organisers put the marquee out of bounds. The owners then made a 100% inspection and retensioned the structure during the night. When I received a faxed letter from Burgoynes guaranteeing the safety of the structure, it was reopened for use. This potential accident was then reported to Environmental Health and the HSE. The owners have adopted a more rigid written inspection manual and operating procedures manual under the auspices of the HSE.

I have to take full responsibility for a flag pole blowing down two years ago. I had not realised how high winds can get on the plot where the flags where sited. All vehicle damage was paid for by the festival and a very big lesson was learned. This year flag sockets where concreted into the site and they worked perfectly and without incident.

That is all for now folks. Have no fear there will be a Shrewsbury Folk Festival next year......and a very good one. I know I'm booking the artists at present.

All the Best

Alan