Bluedot to take fallow year after weather woes

The UK’s Bluedot is to take a fallow year in 2024 to allow the festival site to fully recover from the impact of adverse weather at this year’s event.

The award-winning 25,000-cap science and music festival was held at Cheshire’s Jodrell Bank Observatory from 20-23 June and featured headline performances from Grace Jones, Pavement and Roisin Murphy.

However, organiser From the Fields says that record-breaking amounts of rainfall before and during the festival had a “severe impact” on the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“When we set out on the journey that is Bluedot, our mission was to create a unique experience – a combination of discovery, exploration and grand cosmic ideas, soundtracked by the finest musicians from across the planet,” says a statement from the festival. “Underpinning Bluedot’s mission is a sincere love and respect for the earth and environment we are lucky to be part of. However, the earth beneath Bluedot took a lot of strain.”

The Superstruct Entertainment-backed event was forced to cancel Sunday day tickets due to extreme weather conditions that rendered the day ticket holder car park, pick-up and drop-off point and entrances “impassable”.

“We have now sadly reached the conclusion that the ground on which the Bluedot universe is built desperately needs some time to recover”

“Experiencing the highest level of rainfall on the festival weekend since records began (records courtesy of Jodrell Bank’s own weather station!), we have patiently waited to see what the effects of this have been on the land itself,” continues the statement. “We have now sadly reached the conclusion that the ground on which the Bluedot universe is built desperately needs some time to recover; a period of rest during which the soil will recover and regenerate.”

Speaking to IQ earlier this year, From the Fields co-founder and MD Andy Smith summed up the 2023 festival as a “very tricky production”.

“We had more rain there than we’ve ever had before, but we had an audience that was prepared for it: they know to wear cagoules, they know to wear the right shoes and they know to bring some spares,” he said. “With certain shows, you get audiences who are more or less prepared and Bluedot’s 100% saw it coming.

“When we knew [adverse weather] was inevitable, we got an extra 1,500m of trackway down – I think they got 130 tons of wood chip from our local [supplier] – and a number of other measures that were put out throughout the weekend, which ensured the show could go on. Considering the amount of rain, it was very impressive work by the site crew and by the management to keep it going.

“It was a shame we had to refund day ticket holders on the Sunday, but it just wouldn’t have been fair to drag them in and out of the car park. But for everybody on site, it’s strange – the audience seems to come together a lot more in times of adversity. So whilst one may not have expected it to be so well received, looking at the socials afterwards, it seems to have been one of the best we’ve had yet, if not the best, which is just phenomenal.”

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Read More Like This

News|27 Mar 2024

Oz festival woes deepen with SITG cancellation

Secret Sounds' Splendour in the Grass 2024 was set to be headlined by Kylie Minogue, Future and Arcade Fire

News|19 Mar 2024

The heat is on: extreme weather and live music

How does the live music business prepare for a climate that is both changing fast and more unpredictable than ever?

News|11 Mar 2024

Oz fest cancels final night due to extreme weather

The Pitch Music and Arts Festival was marred by the suspected drug-related death of a 23-year-old attendee

News|25 Mar 2024

Ultra Miami’s first day cut short due to severe weather

Extreme weather and its impact on open-air events was a major topic of conversation during last month’s ILMC in London