A music festival for thousands of people has been cancelled again after organisers blamed rising costs on being unable to successfully host the free event.

The City Sound Project in Canterbury will not be running after bosses conceded they are “unable to find a way to make the event happen” just days before the event was due to start.

The arts and music gig was due to take place in the city’s Dane John Gardens this weekend.

It was set up with no admission fee but co-ordinators say the ongoing financial pressures mean it cannot run for the second year running.

“It's with heavy hearts that we have to announce that CSP In The Park will not be happening (again) this year,” a post to followers said.

“As you'll know, we have prided ourselves on delivering an inclusive, diverse range of music and arts to The Dane John Gardens over many years – all completely free-of-charge.

“With the ongoing financial pressures and massively increased operating costs, we've been unable to find a way to make the event happen.”

The post went on to explain how the team at CSP want to maintain the free entry element to the event and will endeavour to bring the event back next year.

Organisers added: “We cannot explain how difficult it is, in the current climate, to produce a high-quality, large-scale, outdoor event for 5,000 people, without the need for heavy sponsorship and/or a paid-for ticket.

“We desperately want to keep our ethos of being completely free to enter, and will endeavour to bring back CSP In The Park to The Dane John gardens in 2024.

“Until then, we thank you for your patience and ongoing support.

“And again, apologies that we were not able to enjoy a lovely weekend of music in Canterbury this May.”

The last festival took place in 2019 and attracted more than 20,000 people.