It will come as no great surprise that we have to formally announce the postponement of the Festival. As with so many social events, the decision was taken out of our hands as Hertsmere Council announced the closure of all park events.

However, that said, it’s hasn’t been deferred without offering a ‘re-uniting’ event when we are able to gather again, hopefully in the autumn.

We can’t deny that it really does feel sad, not least because of all the hard work and effort that’s gone into its planning but because we were hoping that a festival would be the very thing that people would need having endured this life-changing event.

What this means

• There will not be a Festival programme including ‘Festival in the Park’ until July 2021
• Our efforts will be in supporting the community in other ways and preparing for ‘Bushey is Open’ welcome back event

What we propose

Our planned opening event was intended to be ‘Bushey is Open’ where community groups were invited to open their doors and showcase what they do. This now seems to even more important to do once we are permitted to congregate in numbers. Right now, people are showing their need to express solidarity with each and it follows that we will want to do it on a larger scale when allowed to.

In the next few weeks we’ll be contacting faith groups, sports clubs, charity groups, community services, local businesses (pubs, restaurants, cafés, high street shops ….) etc. to join in, in whatever way they are able, to celebrate the community’s resilience and need to come together.

This is bigger than any one group so if you already like the idea, we are keen to work alongside you. Please let us know here.

Did you know that 2020 is the Hertfordshire Year of Culture? Click or tap here to find out more.

You can watch the official launch video here

You can now watch a selection of slide shows from the 2019 Festival In The Park on YouTube. Or see our Photos page for a selection of pics from last years festival.