CONFUSION over the height and severity of the tides at Chepstow has led organisers of a major water festival to radically change their plans.

The River Wye Festival, a celebration of the river, which is being co-ordinated by the Wye Valley AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) office in Monmouth, may have to extend the event by a week to accommodate tides below Redbrook.

At a meeting of the Tintern Community Council last Monday, Councillor Elizabeth Pescini underlined the problems.

"It seems that nobody checked the tide times for the planned fortnight, and there are now moves to extend the festival by a week to coincide with the tides," she said.

"The change will enable a flotilla of boats to navigate the waters from Brockweir to Chepstow."

Andrew Nixon, AONB development officer, told the Review: "There is a problem with the neap tide in the lower tidal reaches of the river, which would result in the water being too low for many of the boats to take part.

"However, by extending the festival by an extra week there will be a lot more opportunities for weekend events throughout the length of the Wye, as well as the tidal reaches."

He added: "We are to appoint a project co-ordinator who will be working over the next three or four months to make positive links between potential participants in the festival, and the many organisations that will be involved, which include the Arts Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund and other fundholders."

The festival was originally tabled to begin at Hay on Wye on the weekend of April 26 and 27, 2014, and conclude in Chepstow on Sunday May 11 but may now continue on to May 17.

Plans to include a replica trow – the traditional trading boat of the Wye - have also had to be reorganised, due to the fact that the trust who are behind the ship, which was built for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, have deemed her too precious to navigate the river. This has led Cllr Pescini to ask whether another heritage trow could be built.

Ross on Wye is organising a Georgian-themed weekend as part of the festival, while Chepstow community are said to be getting into the festive spirit by planning events around the festival, including themed and musical productions in the local pubs, and a possible firework display over the river.

Meanwhile, Llandogo Primary School is bypassing everyone else's problems with trows – they are planning to build a replica model trow of their own.

More details of the festival can be found at the Wye Valley AONB website.