WHILE venues across East Anglia will be echoing to the sounds of open-air concert performances this summer, it will be a case of silent nights in one corner of Norfolk.

WHILE venues across East Anglia will be echoing to the sounds of open-air concert performances this summer, it will be a case of silent nights in one corner of Norfolk.

After staging two years of summer concerts attracting thousands of people to the grounds of Holkham Hall, the estate announced on Tuesday that it will not be putting on concerts this year because it was not able to book bands of the required standard.

The two previous concerts - the first of which saw world famous opera singer Jose Carreras appear on stage in a concert which also saw a performance by rhythm and blues king Jools Holland - have filled the weekend at the end of August.

Last year sexy songsters Girls Aloud entertained the crowds but caused some criticism for their lack of time on stage and absence of encore. The following night it was the turn of legendary rockers Status Quo to do their stuff in front of thousands of revellers.

On Tuesday Viscount Coke, who is in charge of running the estate, said that following two very successful years of staging concerts, the estate wanted to book performers who equalled the high standard set by the previous artistes.

“Many of the bands we would have liked to sign up for this year were not touring in late August or early September and we were not prepared to drop the standard of music set so far at Holkham,” said Lord Coke.

He said it was therefore decided not to stage the concerts in 2008, but the estate was already planning for 2009 when it was intended to book some of the big names from the world of musical entertainment.

Many of the performers in concerts in other parts of Norfolk and north Suffolk have now been announced.

At various venues, including Blickling Hall, Thetford Forest and at the Latitude Festival at Henham Park, Southwold, there will be appearances by the Zutons, Katie Melua, Boyzone, Meatloaf, McFly and Status Quo.