THE AFRICA Oyé festival, the biggest free celebration of African and Caribbean music and culture in the UK, has been postponed.

Set to take place in June the organisers of the festival announced today that a new date for this year’s event is being considered.

With Government advice warning against all public gatherings for the foreseeable future in order to halt the spread of the Covid-19 virus, the decision was made by the Chair Sonia Bassey, the Festival’s Artistic Director, Paul Duhaney and the charity’s Board of Trustees, to cancel the event until further notice.

Bassey said: “Since its inception in 1992 and throughout our 28-year-history, we have never had to completely cancel a festival (even the rainy summer of 2012 could only force us as far as the Baltic Triangle) but obviously this is an unprecedented situation when it comes to public safety and the tough decision had to be made.

“As the news and advice surrounding the virus is being updated on a daily basis, it’s too early to be looking at a new date right now, but as soon as we can confidently announce new plans, we will.Our current plans are focusing on making sure our staff our safe and able to continue to work flexibly and our future plan will be to ensure when the time is right we can deliver a festival experience that continues to support the industry and the economic recovery of the entertainment sector.”

The Africa Oyé festival is the biggest free celebration of African and Caribbean music and culture in the UK, taking place every June in the picturesque surroundings of Sefton Park in Liverpool. Having grown from humble beginnings as a series of gigs in the city centre, Oyé now attracts crowds of over 50,000 people from all over the world each year.