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Extreme weather hampers debut edition of hip-hop fest

IYKYK, a new hip-hop festival set to debut in the US this weekend, has been called off due to “irreparable damage” to the main stage caused by a recent monsoon storm.

The one-day festival, promoted by Relentless Beats and Universatile Music, was due to take place on 9 September at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, with sets from Lil Uzi Vert, Metro Boomin, Rico Nasty, Denzel Curry, Jeleel and more.

“Last Thursday, our stage structure suffered irreparable damage due to a severe monsoon storm,” reads a statement from the organisers.

“Despite all efforts to clear the debris, it’s clear that the process will take much longer than originally anticipated and reconstruction of a safe site for fans will not be possible before Saturday. We have exhausted all alternative venue options suitable for the planned production and the number of tickets sold, therefore, we must unfortunately cancel IYKYK Music Festival scheduled for this Saturday 9 September.”

“We have exhausted all alternative venue options suitable for the planned production and the number of tickets sold”

Refunds will be automatically processed in the next seven days to 10 days, according to the statement.

Damage to the stage from the storm also caused Relentless Beats to postpone the Basstrack music festival, which originally was scheduled to take place on 2 and 3 September at Phoenix Raceway, until later this month.

The promoter is also due to host the Goldrush Music Festival and a concert from hip-hop duo $uicideboy$ at the raceway in early October.

IYKYK is the latest festival to be disrupted by extreme weather conditions, after Bluedot (UK), Pitchfork Festival Chicago (US)  Primavera (ES), Dutch festivals Awakenings, Bospop and Wildeburg, Alexandra Palace’s Kaleidoscope Festival and Robbie Williams’ concert in Austria.

Elsewhere, festivals such as Austria’s Nova Rock and Australia’s Splendour in the Grass this year invested in site improvements after their 2022 editions were hit with extreme weather.

 


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Hideaway festival cancelled due to “cost of living crisis”

Hideaway Festival, a new 20,000-capacity event in the UK, has been cancelled due to “the cost of living crisis”.

It would have been the first-ever festival to take place at the Crix, a grade two listed building in Essex with 51.5 acres of gardens and parkland.

Bastille, Clean Bandit, James Bay, Texas, Ella Henderson, Lucy Spraggan, Freya Ridings and Jake Bugg were slated to perform at the family-friendly event, scheduled for 4 and 6 August 2023.

The boutique festival was launched by promoter Roy Trickett, a co-founder of Norwich’s Sundown Festival (now owned by ULive). A longtime promoter in the southeast of England, Trickett has also organised concerts at Hylands Park, Sandringham, Broadlands and Gatcombe Park.

He also tried to get Hideaway off the ground during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

Trickett also tried to get it off the ground during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021

“We have encountered numerous challenges, including escalating production costs and the prevailing cost of living crisis,” said a spokesperson. “Despite our best efforts, we are unable to meet the costs associated with delivering a top-quality event on such a large scale.”

The spokesperson said that all customers would receive refunds for the event.

The cancellation comes despite organisers announcing on 25 April that its early bird and tier one tickets were sold out, and suggesting other packages were nearly sold out.

Ticket prices for the festival varied but single-day early-bird passes sold for £60. The event offered glamping options and allowed customers to pay in instalments.

Other festivals that will not take place in 2023 include Falls Festival (Australia), Rolling Loud (US), Summerburst (Sweden), Hills of Rock (Bulgaria), InMusic (Croatia), Wireless GermanyHear Hear (Belgium) and Tempelhof Sounds and Tempelhof Sounds Presents (Germany).

 


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Australia’s Falls Festival to forego 2023 edition

Australia’s long-running Falls Festival will not take place this year in order to “allow space to reimagine how the festival will look in the future”.

The travelling festival last took place across New Year’s Eve 2022 with artists including Arctic Monkeys, CHVRCHES, The Wiggles, PinkPantheress, Amyl & The Sniffers and Spacey Jane.

The Victorian leg of the event last year was due to move from its longtime home in the seaside town of Lorne to Birregurra in Colac, a small city in the western district of Victoria, after the local authority approved a planning permit.

However, local farmers raised concerns over the event’s potential impact on cattle at neighbouring farms and launched an appeal against the decision, which wasn’t heard until February/March. Therefore, organisers Secret Sounds were forced to move the event to Sidney Myer Music Bowl in downtown Melbourne.

“We look forward to updating you with our plans when the time is right”

Falls has faced other challenges in the last couple of years, including two postponed festivals due to Covid-19 lockdowns and a 2019 event in Lorne cancelled due to insurmountable bushfire risk.

“The past few years has seen unprecedented change in the live music space, both front of house and behind the scenes,” Secret Sounds co-CEO and Falls producer Jessica Ducrou said in a statement. “While Falls’ reboot in 2022/23 was full of amazing moments and we were thrilled to reconnect with our Falls Fam, our team needs a break, so this year we’ll take time off to enjoy the holiday period and allow some space to re-imagine how Falls will look in the future.”

Ducrou added: “We send huge love and appreciation to all our patrons for their ongoing support and for the great vibes they brought to the 2022/23 events. You really are the heart and soul of Falls and we look forward to updating you with our plans when the time is right. We also want to send our love and thanks to our extended Falls team including staff, contractors, volunteers, sponsors, partners, suppliers, stakeholders and key agencies that we work with each year, for their enduring passion, dedication and support.”

Live Nation-owned Secret Sounds has been organising Falls Festival for 28 years, alongside other events including Splendour in the Grass, Harvest Rock, Spin Off​, ​Spilt Milk​ and ​Heaps Good​.

 


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