I have been in contact with The British and International Federation of Festivals and have put on Facebook their advice together with a link to the Public Health England website. We are monitoring government advice and the local situation carefully, and will follow official advice. However, at present we do not consider it necessary to cancel any session of the Festival. We are also aware of the practical problems of postponing the event to later in the year and of course there is the uncertainty over the progress and duration of any epidemic . We are therefore currently intending to proceed as planned with our Festival programme, but will contact competitors immediately should that change.

There are two categories of countries and if you are returning from Category 1 areas of certain countries, including China or Italy you will need to self isolate and not come to the Festival. If you are returning from Category 2 countries and feel slightly unwell, with a cough, headache or sore throat you should not come to the Festival. You should check this out on the Public Health England Website.

Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hand) when you cough or sneeze. Put used tissues in the bin straight away.

The advice is to wash hands regularly with hot soap and water and use hand gel when you cannot wash your hands.

Try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell.

Do not touch your eyes, mouth or nose if your hands are not clean.

If you are worried about symptoms please call NHS 111. Do not go directly to your GP or other healthcare centre.