Christopher BarrettOne of the UK’s longest-running festivals, the Cambridge Folk Festival, is set to be reprised next year.
The event, organised by Cambridge City Council, was called off this year having lost £320,000 in 2024. Council documents show that prior to the Covid-19 pandemic the festival returned an average profit of more than £200,000 to fund free community events in Cambridge.
The council is now exploring a refreshed, citywide, multi-venue format for the festival, while Cherry Hinton Hall will remain the anchor venue. It said the festival would be a scaled down two-day outdoor event with a more basic camping offer, while additional venues across the city would host folk events throughout the week with the aim of providing access to new audiences.
The 14,000-capacity event, founded in 1965, traditionally takes place over four days at Cherry Hinton Hall. Among the many acts to have performed there are Robert Plant, Joan Baez, Nick Cave, Suzanne Vega, James Taylor and Van Morrison. The 2025 edition would have marked the festival’s 60th anniversary.
Cabinet member for culture, economy and skills Cllr Antionette Nestor said, “We’re really optimistic about the potential of a multi-venue format that balances the tradition of Cherry Hinton Hall with new opportunities to appeal to a broader audience and support local cultural partners.
“Cambridge Folk Festival holds an integral place in the city’s cultural history, and protecting its legacy has been at the heart of our work to review our options for the future. At the same time, the council cannot afford to subsidise the Festival by half a million pounds a year in the long-term, so we need to address the changes in audience behaviour – such as the decline in people wanting to pay for weekend camping tickets – and ensure the Festival returns in a financially resilient way.”