72 UK festivals were cancelled or postponed in 2024, doubling figures from 2023.
The figures come from a new report by the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) which revealed that, including 96 events lost during the COVID pandemic, a total of 204 festivals have now disappeared since 2019.
By March this year, 21 UK festivals had already been cancelled, postponed or scrapped, including Nozstock Hidden Valley who announced in December that 2024 would be their final incarnation after 26 years due to “soaring costs” and financial risk”.
Elsewhere, the fan favourite Shepton Mallet skating and music festival NASS announced that they wouldn’t be putting on an event this summer either as it was “just not economically feasible to continue”. Bluedot announced a year off for the land to “desperately” recover after being struck by heavy rain and cancellations last summer, and, in April, PennFest cancelled their 2024 festival due to a “challenging economic climate”.
AIF’s CEO John Rostron called 2024 a “devastating period” for festival organisers in the UK. “The festival sector generates significant revenue in and around local economies as well as to the Treasury every year,” he added. “We have campaigned tirelessly for targeted, temporary government intervention which, evidence shows, would have saved most of the independent events that have fallen in 2024.
“It is sad to see that this erosion has been allowed to continue under this Government. We have great events, with great demand, and we’re doing all we can. They need to step up, and step up now.”
Other festivals impacted by rising costs include Dumfries’ Doonhame Festival which was cancelled this year, Nottingham’s Splendour which was canned due to planning delays from a financially struggling city council, and Barn On The Farm which took a fallow year due to financial constraints.
Speaking to NME about the cancellation and postponement of various music festivals, Oscar Matthews – co-owner of Barn On The Farm festival shared: “It’s inevitable and it’s already started, but when you start to lose smaller festivals, events, gig spaces and venues, the opportunities disappear for new and emerging talent to get on stage and get their music heard,” he said. “They’ll suffer and that will inevitably have a knock-on effect further up the chain.”
In February, AIF began campaigning for VAT on festival tickets to be temporarily lowered from 20% to 5%, in order to provide financial relief to festivals close to cancellation.
It follows recent findings that the music industry contributed a record £7.6billion to the country’s economy in 2023, while the grassroots sector continues to struggle.
In hopes of securing a future for live music, the government recently backed a levy on gigs at arena level that will see the UK’s smaller venues, festivals, rising artists and promoters receive a contribution from bigger gigs.
The model, similar to the one seen in the Premiere League of football and already in use in several countries across Europe, was recommended by MPs after a DCMS investigation back in Spring.
Though the idea has already been adopted by major artists like Coldplay, Enter Shikari, Sam Fender and most recently Katy Perry, who have all backed a levy on their upcoming UK tours, the music industry is yet to act, leading to increased calls for a clear deadline for urgent action to be taken.
