LACK of support has forced the cancellation of a festival celebrating celebrities associated with Broadstairs.

The town council has decided that its Celebrity Connections, which ran in 1998, 1999 and 2000, will not be revived “for the immediate future”.

A spokeswoman said: “Our events attracted nationally known performers like Sir John Mills, Nicholas Parsons and Gerald ‘Billy Bunter’ Campion, but the audience numbers were sometimes disappointing and it was felt that the festival could not continue without further enthusiasm and support.”

The original aim of the event was to lengthen the holiday season to benefit local businesses by encouraging visitors to the town during October half-term holiday week.

The festival attracted considerable European funding to help boost the standard and range of publicity and marketing but only for one of the three years.

The spokeswoman said: “The somewhat small increase in economic tourism that followed was not enough to encourage continuation, even though none of the festivals ran at a loss.

“Without the substantial backing of hoteliers and businesses to offer a complete package of accommodation and venues, the small voluntary organising committee found the responsibility too great, even with the considerable administrative backing of the town council.”

Celebrities associated with Broadstairs and St Peter’s and who were celebrated in the three festivals included smuggler Joss Snelling, actor Jack Warner, seaside entertainer Uncle Mack; writers Frank Richards, John Buchan and Oscar Wilde, Annette Mills who created children’s puppet Muffin the Mule; engineer Thomas Crampton, film stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, musician Wout Steinhuis, Major John Percy who brought ashore news of victory at Trafalgar in 1815; and Queen Victoria.