A POPULAR music festival which has welcomed scores of fans and raised thousands of pounds for good causes will not go ahead next year after organisers were left without a venue.
Cosmic Puffin festival, usually staged at Essex Outdoors Mersea, in Rewsalls Lane, hosted more than 200 acts across six stages this year, raising £16,000 for its chosen charities.
The event has been held since 2008, with a two-year hiatus during the Covid-19 pandemic, but its future looks less than certain.
After discussions with organisers, Essex Outdoors, owned by Essex County Council, said “it would not be appropriate” to host the event at its Mersea site next year.
Organiser Jamie Anderson said: “The last few Puffins before Covid were more and more successful and we donated about £20,000 each year to our four selected charities.
“Cosmic Puffin 2022 was a huge success. Six stages, more than 200 acts and workshops and around 800 punters.
“We raised, after a significant increase in costs, £16,000 for our charities.
“We have raised more than £150,000 since the festival started.”
He added: “This is not the end of Cosmic Puffin, but it will be difficult to find a site with the infrastructure of Mersea Outdoors.
“Their accessibility features meant people with impairments could attend with ease and we were probably unique in having 'proper' showers and toilets.”
An Essex Outdoors spokesman said: “We can confirm discussions have taken place with the organisers of the Cosmic Puffin music festival.
“However, Essex Outdoors, which recently carried out an evaluation of its events policy and determines each booking on a case-by-case basis, has reviewed the Cosmic Puffin festival organisers’ proposal and has concluded that it would not be appropriate to host the event at its Mersea site on this occasion.
“Essex Outdoors hope that the organisers find an alternative venue to host their festival in 2023.”
The festival was conceived after a close friend of the organiser reported their daughter had been taken ill.
She spent three to four days in a critical condition at St Mary’s Hospital, London, in intensive care.
A benefit concert was held to raise funds for Children of St Mary’s Intensive Care (COSMIC), which helps the parents of sick children stay in lodgings close to the hospital.
When the girl was transferred to the Puffin ward at Basildon Hospital after leaving intensive care, the name of the festival “was handed to organisers on a plate”.
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