Bryn Terfel’s annual music festival has been cancelled this year. The opera singer founded the four-day Faenol Festival ten years ago but in 2008, according to the festival trust, it made a ‘considerable financial loss’.
After months of trying to shore up the finances for the 2009 festival, Terfel and the festival trust have decided to put this year’s plans on hold and instead focus on the 2010 event. 'A prolonged spell of cold and wet weather last summer, coupled with general public anxiety over the future of the world economy, led to very disappointing attendance figures,' said a spokesperson for the trust.
However the festival, which brings classical music and pop stars to the Faenol Estate near Caernarfon in North Wales, looks set to return next year following a deal with opera promoter Raymond Gubbay and Universal Music.
‘This five-year deal is fantastic news but I am naturally disappointed that we are unable to proceed with this year’s event,’ says Terfel to BBC News. ‘I can assure you that it wasn’t for the want of trying – in the end we just ran out of time … It’s a case of taking one step back so that we can take two huge steps forward and come back with a bang next year.’