A public meeting and vote will be held on Tuesday to decide whether Letchworth Festival will return in 2018.

After a successful relaunch in 2017, the festival steering committee hoped that it would be going on to bigger and better things next year – but the fate of the festival is down to a public vote.

Letchworth Festival is organised by volunteers who donate their time to bring about the festival each year. Akua Obeng-Frimpong – chaired the 2017 Festival committee – must now step back for personal reasons.

It is likely that the 2018 festival will therefore not go ahead next summer – or, at least, not quite as Letchworth residents have become used to.

Ms Obeng-Frimpong said: “It is a shame that we are having to have this debate in response to what is likely to be a temporary setback.

“We look forward to a well-attended meeting and to hearing from as many residents as possible. This is, after all, not just the Letchworth Festival, but Letchworth’s festival.”

The festival committee met last week and agreed that a decision to cancel the 2018 festival cannot be taken lightly or without consulting Letchworth residents.

Anyone interested in discussing options, or volunteering to assist, is invited to a public meeting at Mrs Howard Memorial Hall in Norton Way South where are three options will be under consideration.

The first option put forward is to continue to offer the full festival as now, which will be highly dependent on finding volunteers to fill some of the key roles in organising the festival.

The second option is to provide a scaled-down festival, with the aim of bringing the full festival back in 2019.

The third option is to have no festival next year.

If anyone has any questions about the details of this meeting, call William Armitage on 01462 643537 or see letchworthfestival.org.