Coronavirus: Kynren's 2020 season cancelled over 'uncertainty'

Performances cover two millennia in around 90 minutes

An open-air show which depicts 2,000 years of English history has cancelled its 2020 season amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The organisers of Bishop Auckland's Kynren said "ongoing uncertainty" in the travel, hospitality and leisure sectors had led to the decision.

A loss of revenue presented "enormous challenges", a spokesman said.

The show, which has attracted thousands of visitors since its launch in 2016, will return in August 2021.

Held over a number of weekends from 1 August to 12 September, it would have featured about 1,000 volunteers recreating historical events across 90 minutes.

Production company Eleven Arches described the cancellation as a "heartbreaking" and said the decision was taken after seeking advice from live event experts and monitoring government health advice.

In a statement, it said it had "stood ready to open with plans adapted to the new reality... [but] the conditions we needed to open have not materialised".

Kynren's co-founder, philanthropist Jonathan Ruffer, has agreed to sponsor the costs to open in 2021, it added.

Taking inspiration from one of France's biggest tourist attractions, the Puy du Fou, the show features sword-wielding knights as well as set pieces involving William Shakespeare, William the Conqueror and Sir Winston Churchill.

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