The organisers of a popular Suffolk festival which attracted thousands of music lovers every year today announced that the event will no longer take place.

East Anglian Daily Times: Music on the Green at Martlesham Heath Pictured are some of the thousands of visitors to the eventMusic on the Green at Martlesham Heath Pictured are some of the thousands of visitors to the event (Image: Archant)

Music on the Green, in Martlesham, started 13 years ago as a small village day but rapidly grew to a stage where it attracted crowds of about 10,000 people.

Chairman of the organising committee, Stuart Gordon, said the achievements of the festival has been its downfall as huge crowds led to calls for it to be toned down and to close earlier at future events.

Mr Gordon added: “This real concern, along with the additional burden of higher costs and a shorter day, brought enormous pressures on the volunteer committee.

“As such we decided that we would no longer run the day. It is a real shame as it brought great pleasure to thousands of people and raised significant donations to EACH and other charities over its life. It was a community event run by the community for the community.”

Committee member, Steve Lamb, added: “The early closure stipulation also created another problem of the security of both the Green and the equipment.

“If we finished in the early evening, hundreds of people would stay around enjoying the summer night. This gave us a real concern as to who was responsible after the Village Day finished”.

The committee has decided to donate its remaining funds to charity.

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