BBC Proms in the Park cancelled for second year in Northern Ireland - but this is when you will be able to sing Rule Brittania

As news about the performances return filters around the UK, a BBC spokesman in Northern Ireland said: “The Proms in the Park events in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland will not take place this year but there are plans to reflect the Nations in the Last Night of the Proms celebrations.”

Earlier it emerged that music lovers and top performers will return to the BBC Proms this summer for six weeks of concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall and beyond.

Some 56 performances will take place between 30 July and 11 September.

All will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, with selected concerts also shown on BBC TV channels.

Although the number of spectators allowed will depend on Covid restrictions, the BBC hopes that the Royal Albert Hall’s cavernous size will make for easy social distancing.

It is not yet known if standing prommers will be permitted but the BBC has committed to offering seated tickets for the same low price.

Stars of the strings world appearing at this years Proms include violinists Joshua Bell, who will perform Vivaldi and Piazzolla’s Four Seasons with the Orchestra of St Martin’s in the Fields, and Patricia Kopatchinskaja, who makes her Proms debut with Bartók’s Second Violin Concerto alongside the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Instead the traditional Last Night of the Proms programme will include items reflecting the four nations of the UK.

Belfast, Glasgow, Cardiff and of course Hyde Park and the Albert Hall in London are usually united in song and music on national TV marking the annual ‘Last Night’ event.

But now it will be 2022 before the extravaganza is to return.