Chichester Festivities: How the city mourned after the collapse of two-week summer art festival in 2012

For more than three decades, the Festivities had provided a glorious procession of world-class performers year in, year out – performers to delight in and memories to savour.

The delight and the richness of the Festivities each July was marked by the many thousands who were left with moments to cherish. The loss was a genuine tragedy.

Phil Hewitt, group arts editor, said at the time: "For me, the highlight will always be Bob Geldof – more wide-eyed than a rock star has any right to be – shuffling on to the stage in the Cathedral and muttering: ‘It’s (really rather) weird to be here’ (or slightly more colourful words to that effect)."

The ending was poorly handled. The Festivities were forced to cancel the single biggest event, the fireworks spectacular, for the first time in history due to waterlogged car parks at Goodwood racecourse that summer. Without it, there simply wasn't the money to continue.

The fireworks concert was by a long way the Festivities’ biggest event and always the event which determined the overall success of the festival. July 2012 was the first time it had been rained off – and the precariousness at the heart of the festival was fatally exposed.

Organisers were shocked at the Facebook backlash they suffered in the immediate aftermath but much more damaging was the growing anger and frustration which grew up in the weeks of silence which followed.

In September 2012, it was revealed the company which ran the annual Festivities had been put into liquidation. The fireworks finale that had been rescheduled from July 14 to September that year would never take place.

Creditors faced a wait for their cash and there was growing anger at the way the two-week summer arts festival had handled its affairs since the cancellation due to the lack of communication.

At the heart if it was the great sadness at the passing of Chichester’s summer centrepiece and as a result, with active support from the Chichester Observer, the Festival of Chichester rose as a phoenix from the ashes to herald a new summer arts spectacular for 2013.