HISTORY lovers in Malmesbury are rejoicing after the community united to organise a new festival to replace a popular town event which attracted visitors from all over the UK.

Malmesbury was axed as a host of the BBC History Magazine’s History Weekends in June, with the festival being moved to Winchester after three highly successful years in the town.

The news came as a shock to the town council which had already printed this year’s festival guides.

However, the success of the event was given as the reason it had to leave Malmesbury and be moved to a town with larger venues that could accommodate the ever-growing number of visitors.

After hearing the news, resident Barbara Pollard decided that the show must go on and has set about organising a replacement event over the past two months.

“When I discovered they weren’t going to come back, I thought it was a great shame as I loved the buzz it generated in the town,” she said.

“I thought we can do our own event and spoke to local historian Tony McAleavy. He had some ideas about people he could enquire after.”

Tom Holland, Channel 4 presenter and writer, will kick-off the new festival on Sunday, October 16, with a talk at Abbey House at 4pm.

Throughout the week-long festival there will be a variety of other events, such as an evensong at Malmesbury Abbey and a Saxon storytelling evening with a Gaelic harp accompanying.

The Warden and Freemen of Malmesbury will be opening their premises on the Market Lane for visits and will be putting some of their fascinating archives on show.

There will also be organised walks and the museum will be doing some outreach to engage the younger generation.

One highlights of the festival will be a talk from University of St Andrews lecturer Dr Julian Luxford, who will give an insight into why a new tomb for King Athelstan was commissioned centuries after his death, having written a book about the subject.

Crowd favourite Tony McAleavy will also be speaking about the castle that used to exist in Malmesbury, which was demolished 800 years ago this year.

Barbara says the event wouldn’t have been possible without help from numerous people in Malmesbury.

“It was a team effort from the town,” she said. “This community has a huge amount of talent in it and it’s great to see people come together.”

The BBC weekend, which was launched in Malmesbury three years ago, brought thousands of new visitors to the town each year, however its popularity meant many residents missed out on tickets.

Mary Hill, a volunteer at the Athelstan Museum said: “People came from all over the country as well as abroad – it became a national event.”

Linda Banwell, another volunteer at the museum, added that that the relocation was “regrettable but understandable.”

Julia Bowen, a former Malmesbury mayor who is helping to organise the event with Barbara, said: “Some people locally missed tickets as it was organised nationally.

“This way everyone can see some top people.”

Cllr Fran Vandelli, chair of community and town promotions committee on Malmesbury Town Council, said it was “absolutely fantastic” that the new festival would have a local focus.

“It’s fabulous we’re going to have something to replace what we lost with the BBC event,” she said.

Tickets are not on sale yet, however information about tickets will be released in due course.

The festival will run from Sunday, October 16, to the following Sunday.

For more information called Abbey House on 01666 827650.