2018’s Festival No. 6 will be the last ‘for now’
Festival No. 6, the annual arts and music festival held in Portmeirion, north-west Wales, has announced today that it will be taking a ‘breather’ after this year’s event.
In a statement released to the festival’s website, organisers said the festival in its current format was ‘ not sustainable’. The statement cites the ‘complex site’ of Portmeirion as one of the various ‘challenges’ festival staff have encountered over the years.
The festival launched in 2012, with 6,500 visitors. In only its second year, this number jumped to 10,000. It has welcomed a host of talent over the years, from Johnny Marr, London Grammar, Hot Chip and Grace Jones, to a number of Welsh language bands.
“Taking a break is the right decision but not all is lost, we’re already thinking about the future”
The event, though well received most years, has not been without its controversy. After its first edition, the festival was faced with a series of excessive noise complaints from local residents. Organisers claimed after this that lessons had been learned.
But 2016 brought more controversy when 200 people were left stranded after the car park for the park and ride service into the festival site was left flooded for a number of days. Organisers were condemned for having located the car park on a flood plain, despite there having been flood warnings issued. This incident caused the festival to downsize in 2017.
Thanking past year’s festivalgoers, the statement says Festival No. 6 will go out with a bang, promising ‘an almighty party’ at their 2018 event. In a final sign off, the statement reads: “Taking a break is the right decision but not all is lost, we’re already thinking about the future.”
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Larmer Tree Festival on hiatus in 2017
Larmer Tree Festival will take a year off in 2017 to “fully refresh both creatively and personally”, founder James Shepard has announced.
The independent UK festival, whose last event, from 13 to 17 July, was headlined by Tom Odell, The Stranglers, Calexico, Jamie Cullum and Caro Emerald, will return in its original two-day format next summer (20–22 July).
In a statement, Shepard, a co-director with Julia Safe and Coda agent Rob Challice, thanks the festival’s “many audience members for their constant support of Larmer Tree over the past 26 years and the endless enthusiasm and hard work of everyone involved so far.
“There’s no doubt that it’s the passion and care of such a fantastic team that makes Larmer Tree Festival the truly unique event that it is, and will continue to be.”
Larmer Tree was founded in 1991, and won the 2008 UK Festival Award for best family festival.
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