It is with deep regret that we have been forced to cancel two out of three events scheduled to take place over the Follies Festival weekend at Hawkstone Park Follies. There was due to be a comedy night and west end musicals night on the 5th and 6th July, but due to the extreme weather conditions, the main stage cannot be constructed at the Follies grounds.

Parts of the county have had the equivalent of almost three months of rain in a week this month, and it is the wettest June on record since 2012. Hawkstone Park’s Commercial Director, Lauren Cartledge comments:

“It’s with a very heavy heart that we decided to cancel the comedy and musicals nights at Follies Festival. We had some brilliant acts lined up and it was due to be a fantastic couple of days. Many of Shropshire’s tourism and hospitality businesses are bound to have been affected by the recent wet weather, and unfortunately it has stopped us holding what would have been a memorable event.

“Thankfully we are still able to hold our Storytelling and Troll Hunting day on Sunday 7th July. We will be launching our all new troll hunt trail, as well as welcoming lots of amazing authors for book readings so it will be a great day out for the whole family. There will be dressing up, messy play, rhyme time and storytelling, all set to help children of all ages engage with books.”

With the help of Shrewsbury’s Button & Bear Bookshop some prestigious authors have been secured for their storytelling day. Barbara Mitchellhill, who won the Solihull Children's Book Award for her book ‘Storm Runners,’ will be reading from ‘The Secret Suffragette’ and will be encouraging audience participation and dressing up. Also, Andy Stanton, who is the award-winning author of Mr Gum, will be reading from ‘The Panini’s of Pompeii.’

Standard admission prices apply for the event on Sunday 7th July at Hawkstone Follies, but places are limited so the organisers recommend booking tickets in advance here.

Refunds have been issued for anyone who already purchased tickets to the comedy and west end nights.

Manager Caroline Talbot assures that although the bad weather has affected the area where the large stage would have had to go, the rest of the Park has been unaffected by the rain due to being well drained and we look forward to seeing visitors as the sun starts to shine with the better weather predicted.