Derry Clarke and Mundy Pictured at the launch of The ‘Killarney Festival of Music and Food’ NO Reproduction Fee for First Use . . . Photos by ? Michael Chester 087 8072295 info@chester.ie

This weekend's upcoming Killarney Festival of Music & Food has been cancelled.

Festival organisers issued a statement tonight in which it was "regretfully announced" the festival was not going ahead as planned this weekend.

The event was due to feature more than 70 acts including Duran Duran, The Stunning, Mundy, Texas and Jools Holland performing over two nights.

The event was due to take place at Killarney Racecourse, but the statement said it would no longer go ahead due to "unforeseen circumstances beyond our control".

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A spokeswomen for the festival said: “We are devastated that the festival has been cancelled – we did everything in our power to make it happen this weekend.”

“We would like to extend our sincere apologies to all the festival goers who were planning to attend the event in Killarney and we would like to thank all the local businesses and statutory agencies for their help and support.”

The statement added that promoters are currently engaged in discussions with some of the acts about performing in an alternative indoor venue in Killarney over the weekend.

They hope to make an announcement "as soon as possible" in this regard.

For people seeking refunds, organisers are advising they contact Ticketmaster.

The festival was originally scheduled to take place at Killarney House Demesne, where it was hoped a crowd of 36,000 would be in attendance.

However, due to poor ticket sales, the event was "downsized" and moved to Killarney Racecourse which can hold some 6,000 people.

It's understood that as of last week, just 1,500 tickets had been sold and organisers were hoping to get 5,000 sold.

Last year, some 15,000 revellers attended the event which took place in Westport and was headlined by Sophie Ellis Bextor.

However, this year's headliners Duran Duran and Texas were expected to pull even bigger numbers.

The news of the venue change came on Tuesday, just four days before the festival was due to kick off.

However, organisers issued a statement this evening confirming the festival was no more.

Online Editors