FEARS that Bingley Music Live could fall victim to Council cuts have been allayed, with the news that the festival will return in 2018.

The popular event usually gets a taxpayer subsidy of between £60,000 and £200,000 a year, depending on attendance, but bosses at cash-strapped Bradford Council had said they would have to consider ditching it in future if it didn’t break even this year.

Now the authority has confirmed that Bingley Music Live will return to Myrtle Park next summer, after a record number of revellers flocked to this year’s festival.

While the authority has not yet revealed whether last month’s three-day event broke even, they have said it was at full capacity, drawing a crowd of 15,000 each day thanks to a particularly strong line-up featuring Manic Street Preachers, Kaiser Chiefs and The Wombats.

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, executive member for culture at the Labour-led authority, said: “Bingley Music Live was truly amazing this year in terms of ticket sales and the calibre of performers. Our officers are now working hard to put together another stunning festival for 2018.”

Next year’s event will be held from Friday, August 31, to Sunday, September 2.

Organisers are already working on securing big-name acts for the main stage line-up, while the smaller Discovery Stage, showcasing up-and-coming bands, will also return for 2018.

Questions over the event’s future had been raised at a scrutiny committee in July, when Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the Council, questioned the amount of money the local authority puts up to run the music event and asked how long they could continue to subsidise it.

Steve Hartley, the Council’s strategic director of place, had replied: “Not very long. If it doesn’t break even this year, then we will have to look at the viability of the Council running this event.”

The meeting had been told that the 2016 event had been marred by wet weather, with attendance dropping by 27 per cent compared to 2015, resulting in a loss of £200,000 on ticket and bar sales.

Speaking to the Telegraph & Argus today, Cllr Sunderland said the event had to “wash its face”.

She said: “I think what we need to see is the financial breakdown because great though it is, we can no longer afford to subsidise it.

“When we haven’t got enough money to get elderly people out of bed in a morning, when we are cutting back on children’s services, we can’t afford to subsidise what’s effectively just a concert.”