WIZZAFEST will not be returning to Bromsgrove or Droitwich this year, after last year's event left organisers with a £1,700 shortfall in revenue.

After a decade in Stoke Prior, the festival moved to Droitwich Equestrian Centre in 2016, but Wizzafest's future fell into question when organisers failed to make a profit, leading organisers to host a benefit evening at Lickey End Social Club in February in an attempt to make up their losses.

But the money raised fell short of £1,000, forcing bosses to cancel their plans for this year's festival.

A Wizzafest spokesman said: "There are a couple of reasons the committee has decided not to hold the festival this year, one being that we really needed to raise that money to clear the balance before we did another one. We subsidise the festival quite heavily to keep the cost down - last year we subsidised it by £8,000 to put it in Droitwich."

Despite the blow, organisers have promised this will not be the end for Wizzafest festival. The committee is already looking for alternative venues for their grand return in 2018, although this could see them moving away from Worcestershire.

The spokesman added: "We've had a meeting with Macmillan who have said they will support us this year to put them on the backburner a little bit so we can come back. We've made 20,000 for them over the past few years and they've come to really appreciate that and want us to continue. So they've decided we won't be giving them any money until we're clear - they made that decision for us.

"We're in this for the long-run and recognise that we want to continue Wizzafest in the future and that it wouldn't harm our future if we took this year out. We want to get it right so we're already looking for a new venue, and this break will give us some time to find the right place to hopefully stay there forever.

"We all loved the venue in Droitwich but we realised that, unless we put our prices up significantly for people coming in, it would cost us too much to stay there. We want to keep the festival as it is - small and affordable - so we're open to anywhere that's in the West Midlands - as long as it's the right place, with the right people and the right partnership, it won't affect who we're giving money to. This definitely isn't the end for Wizzafest."

Organisers will be holding a funk and soul night at the Hare and Hounds music venue in Kings Heath on April 15 to start raising money towards 2018's festival.

For more information and tickets, visit tickets.wizzafest.com/events.