Christopher BarrettThe Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) has announced that 60 UK festivals have now been postponed, cancelled or closed for good in 2024.
It said that perhaps most striking among the most recent closures was Secret Garden Party (cap. 8,000) announcing that this year will be its last, and the burning of its main stage at the end of the July weekend event. Other recent closures include Cosmic Roots Festival in Basingstoke and Witcombe Festival in Gloucester.
AIF said that without intervention it expects the UK will see more than 100 festivals disappear in 2024 due to the pressures of unpredictable and rising costs.
With 96 events lost to Covid, 36 in 2023 and 60 to date in 2024, some 192 UK festivals have disappeared since 2019.
In February, the AIF launched a campaign asking for a temporary VAT reduction on festival tickets that would save many event promoters from closure. The 5% For Festivals campaign is an awareness campaign that seeks to inform festival-goers about the problems that music festival promoters have faced over the last five years, encouraging them to contact their MPs to lobby for a much needed VAT reduction on tickets.
AIF CEO John Rostron said, “The number of festivals forced to cancel, postpone or shut down entirely in 2024, largely because of unpredictable costs and a credit crunch within the sector, shows no signs of slowing. The urgent need for government intervention through a temporary reduction in VAT on ticket sales to 5% remains. We hope that the new Labour government will take swift action to save many successful festival businesses that are facing this existential threat.”
The full list of lost festivals in 2024 can be found here.