A MUSIC festival has been cancelled after a council ruled that it did not meet the criteria for funding.
Around 40 acts were due to take part in Limavady's Danny Boy Jazz and Blues Festival in June. However, organisers called off the event after Causeway Coast and Glens turned down a funding application.
Established 25 years ago, it was postponed over the last two years because of the pandemic. In a Facebook post, organisers said it would now seek clarification on how the council reached its decision.
"Unfortunately, our local council has opted to turn down our application for funding this year. Our application for financial support has been successful in all of the festivals previous 23 years,” organisers said.
Festival chairman, Rory Clements the event was expected to attract up to 30,000 to Limavady with hotels and B&B accommodation sold out.
"A lot of people are disappointed, especially coming out of the pandemic; we thought we would get a bounce back," Mr Clements said.
He said the festival was a not-for-profit event which cost around £30,000 each year. Half of the cost was raised locally with Causeway Coast and Glens usually providing match-funding.
"A lot of people come back home for this special event on the second weekend of June so we feel a lot of people will be disappointed; we’ll lose out a lot in our tourism end. It’s quite a big thing for Limavady,” he said.
A council spokeswoman said organisers failed to provide enough evidence to meet its points awarding system.
"Unlike the successful applicants such as NW200, SupercupNI, Stendhal Festival, Armoy Road Races and the Foyle Cup, the Danny Boy Jazz and Blues Festival was unable to provide the necessary evidence to reach the minimum scoring criteria required to justify grant funding the event," she said.
