PennFest joins growing list of UK fest cancellations

Pennfest is the latest UK festival to be called off, with organisers citing a “challenging economic climate”.

The Buckinghamshire-based event joins a growing list of UK festivals that will not take place in 2024 that includes Connect Music Festival, 110 Above Festival, NASS Festival, Leopollooza, Long Division, Bluedot, Barn On The Farm and Splendour.

Meanwhile, organisers of Norfolk’s Wild Fields are battling to reconfigure the planned three-day camping event into a two-day city-based gathering. A collaboration between ATC Group and the team behind Norwich-based multi-venue festival Wild Paths, the 10,000-cap Wild Fields was set for Raynham Estate in North Norfolk from 15-18 August.

Festival director Ben Street told IQ that the team are trying to salvage the festival and are awaiting licensing approval to move to a city park.

Pennfest was due to take place in the village of Penn between 19 and 21 July, with performances from the likes of Jess Glynne, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Paul Weller, The Coral, Professor Green and Richard Ashcroft.

In a post on the festival’s official website, organisers explained that “challenging trading conditions coupled with significantly increasing costs in a very challenging economic climate has made it impossible to deliver the event to the standard our customers have become accustomed to”.

“It is impossible to deliver the event to the standard our customers have become accustomed to”

They continued: “This is not a decision we have taken lightly and the whole team is devastated by this after all their hard work over the past 12 years since the festival’s inception. It saddens us even further that unfortunately this situation does not only apply to us with a significant number of festivals like ours in the UK and internationally already cancelling or postponing their events for the same reasons.”

They ended by saying: “For us, it’s important to prioritise the wellbeing and the long-term sustainability of the festival and by regrouping in this way we can deliver on our commitment to further high-quality experiences in the future.”

Refunds will be available for ticketholders as well as the option to have tickets will roll over to the 2025 event. Plans for next year’s festival will be announced in the summer.

Last month, the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) revealed that 21 UK festivals have now been cancelled, postponed or scrapped – with 100 at permanent risk without action.

In response, the UK trade body is repeating calls for a three-year reduction in VAT on festival tickets from 20% to 5%.

“If the UK wants to be a world leader in music, then the UK government needs to do as other countries across the world have done, and support the festival sector for a few years to make its recovery,” said AIF CEO John Rostron. “Lower VAT on tickets to 5% for three years, and we’ll prevent more festivals having to say enough is enough and goodbye.”

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