Blackburn Mela washed away for good

This year's Blackburn Mela and Arts In The Parks festivals were canceled due to the poor weather, which has prompted a new plan to be hatched by the local council: the two events are going to be axed altogether, replaced with a "new event" in the City Centre.

There's some suggestion that instead of two vibrant events, locals are being presented with a "city centre pub-crawl"; others involved in the organisation of the dumped festivals aren't entirely certain how you can successfully merge rock, Anglo-Asian music and classical, in a town centre, and not lose the sense of occasion, much of the focus, and at least some of the Anglo-Asian music.