WANTAGE Summer Festival has been saved from the axe but too late to go ahead this year.

Now organisers have appealed to young performers in Wantage, Grove and surrounding villagers to pitch their acts for next year’s 20th anniversary bonanza.

The month-long celebration of dance, music and the arts has attracted thousands over the month of June over the past two decades.

Following the retirement of the chairman and programme co-ordinator Julia Reynolds this year, it looked like the festival would not run again.

But at what could have been the festival’s final AGM on April 30, two women stepped up to take the reins.

They were social media and business consultant Sylwia Korsak and Grove ambassador for Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Action Linda Baines.

The women now want to overhaul the festival for next year and bring in younger performers from Wantage and surrounding villages to bring it back to life.

Ms Baines, a former manager at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, said: “We want to see what ideas other people have, but we particularly want to get young artists and performers involved.

“If anyone wants to try stuff, we are open to new ideas.

“It is a festival of the community, we are just the facilitators, but we can help find venues and we’ll use as much technology as we can to help promote events.”

The organisers are planning to hold two open meetings at the King Alfred’s Head on July 8 and 15, where residents are invited to come and pitch ideas for next year. A committee of six is also going to bring the festival into the 21st century by creating a website and using social media to promote the event.

Ms Baines said she would particularly like to discuss the festival with the first Wantage Youth Council elected on May 7.

The appeal for younger performers comes after Wantage recording artist Eloise Rees announced last month that she was reviving regular music nights at the Sweatbox Youth Club at King Alfred’s East Site where she started out a decade ago.

Julia Reynolds was in the festival’s founding committee in 1996, and remained as chairman until she stepped down to focus on other projects.

She said: “Sylwia and Linda will bring new energy and fresh ideas to the festival.

“They will be able to ensure that it can develop in new ways as well as build on its existing success.”

The meeting on Wednesday, July 8, will start at 7pm and the July 15 meeting will start at 6pm.