Joe GallopFairport’s Cropredy Convention, founded and headed by British folk-rock band Fairport Convention, has been postponed for the second year running.
The 20,000-capacity event had been scheduled to take place from 12-14 August, but will now move to 11-13 August next year, on its usual farmland site in Banbury, Oxfordshire.
Festival director Gareth Williams said he was left with no choice but to postpone again: “We have reached the point where we’d need to spend big money but without any certainty we could go ahead. The dilemma we are facing is simple – proceed and risk potentially going out of business or postpone for a year and live to fight another day.”
Williams said the lact of Government support for any form of a Covid-related cancellation insurance scheme for the festival industry was a major contributing factor to the decision to postpone, as was a lack guidance on what mitigations might be required post Step 4.
“This has made it effectively impossible to plan this year’s event,” he said. “Like the rest of the festival industry, we’ve tried everything we can to keep going but I’m afraid we would be placing Cropredy’s future in serious jeopardy if we were to go ahead.”
Williams said tickets purchased in 2020 and 2021 will be valid for the rescheduled festival, and that artists including Richard Thompson, Trevor Horn Band and Clannad, have provisionally agreed to transfer their bookings to next year.