POOR ticket sales and bad weather have led Chester’s premier arts festival – MBNA Chestival – to cancel its final weekend of activities this year.

Chester Festivals, organisers of the month-long series of arts and entertainment events have announced the Vaudeville Weekend which was due to close this year’s festival has been scrapped.

This comes a week after it was reported that days of torrential rain had kept audiences away from the outdoor movie screenings in the Chester Amphitheatre.

This is the third year that MBNA Chestival has taken place and it has been greeted by great acclaim and big crowds for most of the activities.

The 2012 festival has already attracted huge audiences for the opening Roman weekend and the traditional Midsummer Watch Parade – two of the many free events which form part of the line-up.

But organisers have been struggling to attract ticket buyers for paid events such as the outdoor movie screenings.

This resulted in the following statement being issued by Chester Festivals yesterday: “After three years of providing dynamic and engaging family friendly entertainment, the Chester Festivals team have had to make the unprecedented decision to suspend one of MBNA Chestival’s events.

“The Vaudeville Weekend on July 13-15 will be rescheduled for 2013 due to a culmination of unexpected circumstances.

“For example, the underlying trend of sales was disappointing even before the British weather had its say and Chester Festivals took this unfortunate but unavoidable decision.

“It was a step that was not taken lightly but one that will paradoxically ensure the success of this year’s MBNA Chestival.

“Members of the public who have already purchased tickets for vaudeville events will be contacted by the box office and fully refunded. Alternatively, ticket holders can call the box office directly on 0845 241 7868.

“Chester Festivals would like to apologise for any inconvenience or disappointment that this may have caused, and hope that we’ll have your support at next year’s MBNA Chestival.”

Neil Kendall of Goldust Productions, which was commissioned to produce and direct the Vaudeville Weekend on behalf of Chester Festivals, expressed disappointment over the decision.

He said: “Last Friday I met the Chester Festivals board and was told of the cancellation of the Vaudeville Festival 2012.

“It is, of course, a great disappointment to myself and to the artists we had booked from all over the country for this event.

“The Vaudeville Festival was a huge success when it launched in 2011 and was the first event of its kind in the country receiving national acclaim and glowing reviews from Press and public alike.

“We have been given an assurance that the Vaudeville Weekend shall be rebooked for 2013 and look forward to working with the festivals team in 2013 to bring the festival back bigger and brighter than ever.”