UPTON-upon-Severn Folk Festival is alive and well, contrary to rumours that it was not going to take place this year.

There will be four days of singing in the pubs and dancing in the streets as usual from Friday, April 28 to Monday, May 1.

The only difference will be the lack of paid guests and concerts in marquees.

Instead it will be a DIY festival, with sessions and sing-arounds in the pubs and on the waterfront, musical meanders, morris dancing and ceilidhs in the Memorial Hall.

Folk fans can camp in town and gain free access to the events with their camping passes. Others will get bargain prices, because there will be no big names to pay or marquees to hire.

There will be sessions with visiting folk clubs, dancing under the bridge and a folk service at the parish church on Sunday morning, followed by a procession through the centre of town to the riverside, where there will be food and craft stalls.

Richard Hannah, festival spokesman, said changes on the committee and administrative problems had held up preparations for this year's festival.

"Now it's February and too late to start organising a large-scale festival, but we don't want it to slip from the folk calendar, or lose the goodwill of the townspeople," he said.

"Most people won't notice any difference. We shall still have massed dancing on Saturday, a procession on Sunday and dances in the Memorial Hall on Saturday and Sunday night."

He said the festival committee still had every intention of continuing the tradition of Upton Folk Festival and inviting well known singers to perform at future events.