ORGANISERS of the Oswestry Food and Drink Festival have announced that the 2021 event has been pushed back to September, to allow for greater safety.

The hugely popular event, which normally takes place in July, will now go ahead on the weekend of September 18 and 19, with organisers hoping it can take place with less social distancing measures in place and allow for more people.

In a statement to its website, a spokesman confirmed the changes.

They said: "In order to hold the Oswestry Food and Drink Festival safely, we have made the decision to move this fantastic event from its normal spot in July, to September 18 and 19 instead.

"We hope to move it back to July in 2022, but this decision will hopefully enable us to manage the event as safely as possible acknowledging the social distancing requirements that will likely still be in place.

"If we feel the event can’t be held safely in September, we will make the difficult decision to cancel but we will let everyone know if this is the case.

"In the meantime, stay safe and we will hopefully see you all in September."

The decision to hold the event back by two months has been welcomed by North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson.

He tweeted: "Good to see that the Oswestry Food and Drink Festival is going ahead this year albeit at a later date of September 18 and 19.

"A great initiative by Oswestry Town Council and a good chance for Oswestry to celebrate its credentials as a place to visit."