OXFORD Folk Festival will be back next year but it may take a different form.

That is the pledge of organiser Tim Healey, who was forced to cancel last month’s festival because of rising costs and the effects of the recession.

But Mr Healey, who organised the seven previous festivals, said he hoped the event would return next year.

And he said discussions would start in the summer as to what form it would take, with plans being revealed by the autumn.

He said: “We’re hoping very much it will be back, but it may look a bit different. There are lots of questions we need to ponder about whether generally we got a bit overheated, as we grew very fast over a very short time, and felt every year we had to make some vast leap forwards.”

Mr Healey said among options to be considered were moving it to an out-of-town venue, similar to the Cambridge Folk Festival, or into marquees at South Park. Both options would allow bigger audiences than the 700 allowed at Oxford Town Hall, previously used to stage the festival’s big concerts.

He added: “I have always liked the way we celebrate the city itself and thought Cambridge Folk Festival cheats by holding it outside the city.

“I love the way we use pubs in the city and the Oxford Castle site. So moving to another venue is one possibility among many.

“We may decide not to have quite so many concerts and just focus on the Town Hall.”

The 2011 festival, which would have cost £64 for the weekend, was cancelled after the organisers found people were reluctant to buy tickets in advance.

But volunteers staged their own weekend of morris dancing and free musical performances around the city for Folk Weekend Oxford.

Organiser Ian Giles said he hoped the stand-in event would not be needed next year if the festival proper returned.

He said: “We had a huge amount of support from everyone who came to Oxford to play and dance, but whether we could sustain that every year, I don’t know.

“It was hugely successful for what it was, but we didn’t have the major concerts, which is what costs the money.

“We would much rather see the festival back.”

Mr Healey added that the stand-in event had showed the strength of support among the city’s music lovers.

For the first time, the folk festival will have its own stage at the Truck Festival in Steventon in July, with a Christmas carols event at Oxford Castle being planned for December.