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Bleak news for summer festival lovers, as the popular Garden NEF Party has officially been cancelled for the 2010 edition, due to lack of public funding.

We reported in November that there had been encouraging noises from regional president Ségolène Royal about saving the event, with a suggestion that additional money may be found by a combination of the region and private funding. 

The rock festival is usually staged in the middle of July, and has attracted headline acts such as Franz Ferdinand, Iggy Pop, The Hives, Muse, Arcade Fire and Gossip in recent years.

However a meeting yesterday at the town hall in Angouleme failed to come up with a plan to save the 2010 event, with the town’s public finances stretched to the limit.  The meeting which took place late last night, brought together public and commercial partners to try and thrash out a deal to save the event, but despite a doubling in funding from the region of Poitou Charentes, it was the town hall who could not find the final additional 50,000 euros needed.

There are hopes that the event can be revived for a new 2011 edition, and an initial meeting is planned for the New Year.

Fans were enraged back in November at the possibility of a cancellation, which prompted hundreds of demonstrators to gather outside the town hall.

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