High costs forced Wodonga’s Hot House Theatre to scrap the popular $100,000 youth festival.

Co-chief executive Bernadette Haldane said it was a very tough decision for herself and fellow boss Campion Decent to make.

“After 11 years of running the event, it was a was an incredibly hard decision, but in the end it came down to costs,” she said.

“We exhausted our philanthropic and corporate funding avenues.”

Wages were the most costly part of the event, which sent professionals on travelling workshops for six months of the year.

The theatre group travels as far as Wagga to host workshops.

Teachers and students on both sides of the Border were upset.

Sharyn Hill, of Sharyn Hill School of Speech and Drama in Albury, said her students had taken part in the festival since it started in 1998.

“Drama is such an important thing for young people,” she said.

Teachers from the Albury region wish to create their own event.

Albury High School creative and performing arts head teacher Margie Gleeson was confident they could host a low-scale version.

l Editorial — page 20