BASINGSTOKE'S annual summer music festival has been postponed for a second year, it has been confirmed this morning.

The B LOVE music festival, which has run on the final weekend of Basingstoke Festival in War Memorial Park, was postponed last year due to the coronavirus pandemic and was due to take place on July 10 and 11 this year.

In January, Cllr Simon Bound, cabinet member for communities, culture and partnerships, said the event was 'unlikley' to happen this year either, adding: "While we work to investigate how the festival can be safely delivered, in all probability, for B LOVE the next event will be in summer 2022.”

Now, the festival's organising team have taken to Twitter to confirm the news.

It said: "Spring might be in the air, but as many of you predicted we have had to take the difficult decision to postpone B LOVE 2021 to the summer of 2022.

"As part of its roadmap to unlock national COVID restrictions, the government has announced plans for large scale events to return no earlier than Monday 21 June but this is very much dependent on the latest data and only three weeks before B LOVE 2021 was scheduled to take place."

It continued: "The decision has not been taken lightly and we would have loved to be in a position to take that risk but we feel the safest option is to move the event to next year.

"The good news is that we can confirm that we have already started having conversations to bring back those acts booked for 2019 and will continue to work with the B LOVE Music Forum and its suppliers to bring you the best music offer for Basingstoke."

The council continues to search for a third-party partner to run the event, after financial pressures led to the decision to outsource it. The application deadline has passed, but the council is yet to confirm if a successful candidate has been selected.

The B LOVE team added: "We are continuing our search for new partners to make B LOVE as sustainable and resilient as it can be in the current climate & in the future. Stay safe and keep an eye on our social media channels for regular updates, and we hope to welcome you all to a special B LOVE event next year."