Boardmasters axed amid weather worries
Vision Nine’s Boardmasters festival (50,000-cap.) has been cancelled twelve hours before gates were due to open, as severe weather warnings hit the UK.
The organisers of the live music and surfing festival announced the “potential risk” to attendees’, performers’ and crew safety was “too severe” for the event to go ahead.
Campers were supposed to arrive at the festival site in Newquay, Cornwall today (7 August), with music beginning on Friday.
Wu-Tang Clan, Florence and the Machine, Foals, Jorja Smith and Dizzee Rascal were all billed to play the festival.
“Due to forecasted severe weather conditions, specifically high winds, Boardmasters 2019 has been cancelled,” organisers posted on social media at 11 p.m. last night.
Organisers say they “sincerely regret the disappointment to fans” and apologise for disruption to local businesses.
Information regarding refunds will appear on the event’s social media pages in due course. Tickets were priced from £69 for one day to £205 for a five-day camping pass. VIP camping options cost £280.
“Due to forecasted severe weather conditions, specifically high winds, Boardmasters 2019 has been cancelled”
James Barton’s Superstruct Entertainment acquired Boardmasters from Global Festivals in April, along with the UK’s South West Four, Kendal Calling and Tramlines, as well as Croatian dance festival Hideout.
Prior to forming part of the Global portfolio, Boardmasters was owned by Impresario Festivals.
Severe weather conditions caused the cancellation of Rewind North in Cheshire, UK, earlier this month and was cited as the reason for the axing of Roxodus festival in Canada. Flood risks also forced the last-minute venue move which resulted in the cancellation of Neo Sala’s Doctor Music Festival in Spain.
The consequences of extreme weather has been a subject of discussion at the ILMC Production Meeting for many years, with production experts urging more long-term monitoring of weather conditions.
Great Western Railway is allowing all those with return tickets from Newquay to use their returns from today. Bus company Megabus is making extra seats available on it service from Newquay to London.
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Britpop to return to Knebworth with Cool Britannia
Knebworth House will this summer host a large-scale rock festival for first time since 2014 with Cool Britannia, a new three-day Britpop-centred event promoted by David Heartfield’s Heartfield Entertainment.
Twenty-two years after 250,000 people descended on Knebworth for Britpop’s high watermark – Oasis, with support from the Charlatans, Cast, the Prodigy, Kula Shaker, Manic Street Preachers and the Chemical Brothers – a who’s who of Britpop greats, including Happy Mondays, Ocean Colour Scene, the Lightning Seeds, New Order’s Peter Hook, Dodgy and a returning Cast, will help transform ‘Britain’s biggest venue’ into a ’90s time capsule in the last weekend of August.
The 250-acre Knebworth Park last hosted a major rock show in 2014, when Iron Maiden and Metallica headlined the final UK edition of Kilimanjaro Live’s Sonisphere.
“This will surely be a great addition to our 44-year history of hosting some truly memorable events”
Martha Lytton Cobbold, managing director of Knebworth owner Lytton Enterprises, tells local paper the Welwyn Hatfield Times: “We are delighted to welcome Cool Britannia to Knebworth Park. With such a fantastic line-up of era-defining acts, this will surely be a great addition to our 44-year history of hosting some truly memorable events.
“We are looking forward to working with the Heartfield Entertainment team over the coming months to bring you a spectacular fun-filled weekend of music.”
Heartfield’s Impresario Festivals previously promoted South West Four, Field Day, Boardmasters and ’80s festival Rewind, which were acquired by Global in October 2016.
Tickets for Cool Britannia go on sale on 2 February. A full line-up is pictured below:
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Impresario backers double money with Global sale
Following the multimillion-pound sale last week of its Impresario festival assets to Global, London-based investment firm Edition Capital has announced the launch of a new fund targeting media and entertainment businesses.
The First Edition EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) fund, for which Edition initially hopes to raise £20 million, will draw on the company’s festival expertise to provide funding for businesses operating in live entertainment (including venues), TV and immersive media (such as immersive theatre and experiences).
Edition Capital partner Harry Heartfield comments: “We’re extremely excited to be launching First Edition EIS, and we’re very much looking forward to identifying the next big things in the media and entertainment sectors. The Edition Capital team is highly experienced in developing emerging brands and helping them realise their potential.”
“We are pleased with the outcome for Impresario. The whole team has worked incredibly hard to help create an amazing success story”
In addition to its involvement with Impresario (South West Four, Field Day, Boardmasters), Edition’s partners have also been involved with 19 Entertainment (sold to CKX in 2005 for more than £100m) and Creamfields promoter Cream, which was sold in 2011 to Live Nation.
According to Edition, the sale of Impresario to Global equated to a doubling of shareholder value in less than four years.
Edition Capital’s Adam Spence says: “We are pleased with the outcome for Impresario. The whole team has worked incredibly hard to help create an amazing success story, and we feel sure that Global will be an excellent fit for each of the brands going forward.”
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