PEMBROKE Castle has announced a year off from the annual Rock the Castle concert weekend in 2020.

The 900-year-old ancient monument has hosted some big acts since its launch in 2013 and has now become Pembrokeshire’s largest live music event attended by thousands each year.

This summer’s concerts were headlined by Status Quo, Sister Sledge and Gabrielle, and previous acts include UB40, the Fratellis, Toploader, and Jools Holland as well as some of the world’s leading tribute acts such as The Bootleg Beatles and Counterfeit Stones.

However, 2020 will see some significant developments at the castle and the decision to take a year off has been made to enable the castle’s time and resources to be spent on some exciting restoration and interpretation projects.

Castle Manager, Jon Williams, said: “We’re already looking forward to 2021 and have had a few thoughts about which bands to approach. However, 2020 is going to be about delivering some projects on the fabric of the castle. The projects will require a large contribution from our funds, as well as the time and effort it takes our small, dedicated team to achieve. We felt that to achieve these projects we had to focus on them and although we all love the concert weekend, it always takes a huge chunk of our time to organise”.

In 2020 the castle is looking to create access to the Solar area to visitors. The Solar is thought to be the most luxurious rooms within the castle during medieval times and is likely to have been where the various Earls of Pembroke would have resided. However, it is also an area that has never been accessible to castle visitors. There are also plans to conduct further archaeological excavations, and much needed maintenance work to the roof of the Great Keep which is Pembroke Castle’s most famous and striking feature.

Jon added: “I’m sure that a lot of our loyal supporters will miss the big night out and will be disappointed, but rest assured Rock The Castle will return and that we are working on some exciting smaller scale events for next year that we hope will attract a lot of interest”.