WEYMOUTH Kite Festival will not go ahead this year as its organiser has 'had enough.' 

The festival is an annual fixture on the borough's events calendar, and has been running for more than 25 years on the May bank holiday weekend.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council withdrew its funding of the event in 2013, in attempts to save money after government funding cuts. 

Michael McManus took over as organiser of the festival in 2013, but is throwing in the towel after three years.

He said: “There is no funding coming forward and there are no volunteers. There’s plenty of interest from food stall holders but there won’t be any money coming in. 

“Last year I got the kite flyers to come down at their own expense. The council used to pay the expenses and I had to carry that on for three years. 

“I had people bring stalls from Coventry, some even from Yorkshire. It’s just sad.” 

The festival, which was first held in 1991, has attracted crowds of thousands of people during its time. 

Mr McManus, who brought a bungee jump to the festival in 2015, thinks that his efforts to bring new ideas to the event was not enough.

He said: “I wanted to include local groups and bring new activities. Last year I ended up putting something like eight to nine hundred pounds of my own money into it.

“I loved doing it and I loved meeting people. I think I’ve just had enough.”

The council have said they are in talks to organise a brand new event to replace the kite festival, set to be introduced in 2018.

Steve Davies, event officer for Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, said: “We should focus on the fact that we hosted one of the country's most successful kite festivals for 25 years.

"We are confident that next year we will hold a new prime festival over this important bank holiday weekend. 

“We want to plan something fun, sporty and colourful. We like the idea of creating something that is family friendly and free for everybody. The beach and seafront is a wonderful platform for events.”

There is currently no event planned to replace the kite festival this weekend.