Sheffield's Music In The Gardens festival ends due to rising costs

Organisers of the charitable festival said it was ending with "a heavy heart mixed with pride and a sense of achievement"

A long-running annual music festival has folded, with organisers citing rising costs and a lack of volunteers.

James, UB40 and The Proclaimers were some of the big name acts to perform at Music in the Gardens, held at Sheffield Botanical Gardens for 20 years.

In February, organisers announced the 2023 festival would be cancelled, but have now said the show has been permanently ended.

Organiser Andrew Bates said the event could no longer draw "top-line acts".

Organisers thanked "all the Rotary Clubs, volunteers, and suppliers who started, continued, and assisted the event throughout the years"

In a statement, show organisers said: "After raising over £500,000 for local charities, Music in the Gardens has folded and will not be returning.

"The costs of staging the event, the rapidly inflating costs of artists, the tightening restrictions imposed on the requirements of outdoor venues, have made the event untenable.

"Add to that the lack of willing volunteers prepared to give an extensive amount of time required means the organisation has folded."

Mr Bates said: "I think that when you get to the position where you can't get it as good as the previous year you start looking at yourself and say 'well, what are we doing this for?'

"It was great to do it for the charities, but it was becoming more difficult to get the acts that we needed to bring the crowds in."

Organisers of the summer event thanked organisations and volunteers who had previously helped stage the festival and said: "It's with a heavy heart mixed with pride and a sense of achievement that we say goodbye and thank you.

"It's been a blast."