THE Basingstoke Festival finished on a high note at the weekend, with the return of Basingstoke Live.

As we report on pages 6 and 7 of today’s paper, thousands of people turned out once again for the free music festival held at the War Memorial Park.

It’s not hard to see why it is so popular – a two-day festival held close to the centre of the town, with a variety of music acts to suit everyone’s musical tastes.

And it is all the stronger for the fact that the majority of the artists taking part are from the local area.

They get valuable experience playing in front of large crowds, and we get the pleasure of watching them perform.

The future of the event has been a long-running saga that has been played out in this newspaper for some time.

In December last year, we reported on a musical protest, that took place outside the Civic Offices and was held by campaigners who feared for the future of the event.

They were concerned that a plan by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to look at using a private company to run cultural events, such as Basingstoke Live, would ruin its character.

However, the borough council’s Cabinet agreed to go ahead with the plan, and members stressed the value of Basingstoke Live and other events in Basingstoke.

There can be little doubt that Basingstoke Live is firmly established as one of the highlights in the town’s cultural calendar.

The Gazette hopes that the festival’s popularity is taken on board when councillors come together later this year to discuss changes that might affect how Basingstoke Live is run.