Joe GallopIndependent promoter From The Fields has announced the cancellation of the 2021 edition of the Bluedot Festival (cap. 21,000), which was due to take place in the grounds of the University of Manchester’s Jodrell Bank Observatory on 22-25 July.
The music, science and culture festival near Macclesfield, Cheshire was also cancelled last year due to Covid-19.
In a statement, organisers said they consulted with attendees before making the decision: “Following your feedback, it became clear that keeping the same festival on the same weekend would have been the only option that meets the expectations we and you and our partners all share for the festival. However, due to a lack of government support around insurance for events such as ours, the risks are too great.
“Despite continuous calls from our industry over the past six months the government have refused to step up and provide us with protection via a government-backed insurance scheme. Without such a scheme, which would have provided us with security, the overwhelming risk and high upfront costs for us to hold bluedot this year are sadly just too high.
“We’ve been exploring every avenue to make bluedot happen this summer for the last few months, and it has only become clear in the last few days that we have exhausted all options.”
The festival has been rescheduled for 21-24 July 2022, and organisers said the intention is to retain headliners including Bjork, Metronomy and Groove Armada.