So after an absence of 2 years ROTW is back. The various committees have still be working away over the past 2 years to try and secure a different venue but thanks to the Management team at Hitchin Priory, 2014 will finally see the return of the much loved festival.

Some of you may have seen some interesting graffitti around the town in the past few weeks? The Croc that Rocks has been seen on various windows, wall and pavements with a 'Save the Date' sign to muster interest.

An event will be held on the market square on 22nd March 10:00 and 16:00 to get more volunteers as to stage a festival of the size of ROTW requires a huge amount of time and effort by hundreds of volunteers. If you are interested in helping please contact Jo and Alison at volunteers@rotw.org.uk

An evening fundraiser and celebratory event is being held later the same day at Club85 where Hallouminati, The Turner Brother and My Pet Junkie will be performing (£5 advance tickets or £6 on the day.

ROTW have been looking for a new site over the past 18 months with little luck and the process has taken a lot longer than they first expected with various hurdles along the way.

Thierry Viatge, General Manager at Hitchin Priory told Thebestof Hitchin "The new owner of the Chartridge Conference Company, of which the Priory is part of, Dato Zamri, is very keen to return the Priory to the local community and therefore has agreed to work once again with ROTW and host the event. The grounds have sufficiently recovered and we hopefully have learned from a very muddy 2012. The ROTW committee has assured us that a suitable plan will be in place to ensure that the impact on the grounds will be minimal and quickly dealt with, allowing the Priory to host weddings soon after the event without worrying about any long lasting damage. The management and staff of the Priory are delighted to have ROTW back."

And I am delighted that ROTW is back at Hitchin Priory, it just seems like its the perfect place for the festival. Keep an eye on the website and facebook and twitter for information for what I am sure will be a hugely busy 4 months for the volunteers who have to pull together a programme and logistics for the festival.