Medway Gaming Festival will not be going ahead at The Historic Dockyard Chatham this year

One of Kent’s biggest festivals will not be going ahead this year.

The Medway Gaming Festival will not be returning to The Historic Dockyard Chatham, say organisers.

The event has run annually for the past four years and features a weekend of retro, video and tabletop games.

Most recently, it hosted a series of celebrity guests including Medway-born Viking Valhalla star Julian Seager, Lara Croft voice artist Shelley Blond and Star Wars actors Mike Quinn and Chris Bunn.

It was launched in 2021 by Medway Council.

But it will not make a comeback this summer due to a combination of rising operational costs and changes to the public funding available to support the event.

Insufficient visitor growth and ongoing cost of living pressures have also factored into why the event will not be happening.

Director of commercial and operations at the dockyard Olivia Horner said: “This was an incredibly difficult decision and one we did not make lightly.

“We have a genuine fondness for the Medway Gaming Festival and take pride in the events we have hosted over the last few years.

“While the Dockyard provided an iconic backdrop for MGF, sadly the event fell short of the financial targets necessary to justify its continuation.

“As an independent charity, our priority must remain the preservation of our unique 80-acre site and its many listed buildings.”

But, the company behind organising content for the festival, Fragers, has said the event is no longer financially viable at the Dockyard, it is exploring other locations in Medway.

Chief executive Gary Kirby said: “Naturally, we are disappointed that we won’t be collaborating with the Dockyard on the Medway Gaming Festival this year.

“It’s been a fantastic experience working together to bring this unique event to life over the last five years.

“MGF was one of the first events post-pandemic to launch in the UK and had three years of fantastic growth.”