T in the Park ‘taking a break’ in 2017

“Continued restrictions” on the T in the Park festival site at Strathallan Castle mean the event will be going on hiatus – its first in 23 years – in 2017, it announced this afternoon.

In a statement to press, the two parties behind the festival – promoter DF Concerts and commercial partner Tennent’s Lager – blamed T in the Park’s enforced move from its previous site, in a disused airfield in Balado, Kinross-shire, for the 2017 event’s postponement, saying they “need to take stock and take a year out to try to resolve the issues, so that we can once again deliver the kind of camping festival you are used to and deserve.”

In July, DF Concerts said the festival is “back on track” following a revamp of its arena, campsite and transport infrastructure for 2016 in response to problems the previous year, although it did not sell out, despite a reduction in capacity of 15,000.

The promoter’s pre-tax profits fell 42% in 2015, with DF director Geoff Ellis blaming additional costs on “the fact that we are constrained by and required to comply with onerous, inflexible full planning conditions”.

Glasgow City Council announced earlier this week it is in talks with DF Concerts about hosting a non-camping festival in the city in July.

“We’re not in control of the overall site layout, and the continued restrictions mean that the negative impact on our fans and the limitations placed on their experience is too great”

T in the Park’s full statement is below:

For over 23 years, T in the Park has been at the heart of Scotland’s music scene – with you, by our side. But for now, sadly, we need to take a break.

We launched T in the Park with one aim: to give Scottish music fans an unforgettable weekend with their friends enjoying the best acts from around the globe. And to say we achieved this together is an understatement. T in the Park has become one of the best-known, biggest and most-loved festivals in the world. When we launched back in 1994 there were only two music festivals in the UK – now there are many, and T in the Park paved the way for all that have come and gone in Scotland since. We created more than just a festival; we created a family and decades of wonderful memories.

However, the last couple of years have had their challenges. Against our will, and despite a prolonged fight, we were forced to move from Balado, Kinross, in 2015. This move was a mammoth task for the event and one that was compounded by a series of onerous site restrictions placed upon us as preparations for the event in 2015 took place.

As the build up to the festival was well underway we were informed by Scottish government ministers that we would have to apply for full planning permission due to the presence of an unregistered, but protected in law, osprey’s nest. The constraints – logistically and financially – that the resulting planning conditions put upon us are simply not workable. We tried our best to work with the pressures placed upon the site by bringing in an additional team and fixing the first-year traffic issues, but ultimately we’re not in control of the overall site layout and the continued restrictions mean that the negative impact on our fans and the limitations placed on their experience is too great.

We now need to take stock and take a year out to try to resolve the issues so that we can once again deliver the kind of camping festival you are used to and deserve.

Until the next time…

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