Guwahati, Jan. 7: The writing had been on the wall for the past couple of winters. But now it is official: no more beach festivals to add to the festivity of Magh Bihu on the banks of the Brahmaputra.

The organisers of the Brahmaputra beach festival, the city’s most popular Magh Bihu event, said it would not be possible to organise the event in the future for lack of government and private patronage.

The festival was the brainchild of Assam Boat Racing and Rowing Association.

The festival, designed to propagate and popularise the traditional sport of Assam, was not held in 2005 as a mark of condolence and solidarity with tsunami victims. But the festival could not be organised in 2006 and 2007 purely because of lack of government and private patronage.