Poor ticket sales last year means no Bristol Prom on the Close this summer

A prestigious annual Clifton music event has been cancelled.

The Prom on the Close, hosted by independent school Clifton College, will not be held this summer.

The outdoor event, whose headline acts in previous years have included tenors Jose Carreras, Russell Watson and opera diva Lesley Garrett is "under review".

The decision to cancel the July concert, held on the cricket pitch at Clifton College, is understood to come after poor weather and the lack of major stars affected ticket sales at last year's event.

Louise Hanson, bursar at Clifton College, told the Post: "We've done the concert since 2001 and we've decided to review the event.

"We've opened our new music school which we are focusing on at the moment.

"We had very good feedback from last year's Prom, which included a choir competition, but the Prom won't be held this year."

Mrs Hanson refused to reveal whether the 2009 Prom was profitable.

She added that the school would instead be supporting the three-night Summer Nights festival, being held at Ashton Court in July.

The Summer Nights festival will take place on July 8, 9 and 10, and organisers are hoping the open-air event, which could attract 4,000 people each night, will become an annual extravaganza.

The family-friendly concerts are intended to fill a gap in the West's music scene, featuring acts ranging from classical singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa to Motown and 1960s tribute bands. Mrs Hanson added: "The Prom on the Close will have a rest this year but will be reviewed and may return at a future date.

"We have been discussing the 2010 event for the last few months and this month we took the decision not to hold the event in 2010.

"We had not booked any acts for the 2010 Prom by this stage."

An audience of almost 10,000 people watched Jose Carreras perform at the 2005 Prom.

In 2006, a crowd of 5,000 watched Lesley Garrett headline the event, followed by similar numbers who came to see Russell Watson in 2007.

Lesley Garrett returned to the Prom stage – and a crowd of more than 10,000 – in 2008, which organisers then labelled "one of the most successful Proms ever".

But torrential rain and the lack of a big name marred the 2009 Prom, which the Evening Post understands was attended by just over 2,000 people.