In news that is not utterly shocking to anyone, UK festivals have issued a “red alert” after many festivals cancel, postpone and pull out plans for returning in the summer.
This comes after the talks with the Government break down regarding festival insurance, if they do happen to cancel again due to COVID, as the roadmap to return is ultimately delayed and does not place us where we expect to be.
Yet again, the UK festivals are facing unwarranted certainty and confirmation of anything set to go ahead this summer – not even the support and structure of cancellation insurance if things do not go ahead. Eeesh, we’re seeing a similar pattern as to what we saw last summer, too.
A projection from AIF (The Association of Independent Festivals) reveals that 76% of the remaining festivals left in July and August could cancel too, if no immediate action is taken to help protect these events. It seems there is simply no appetite or mere desire to save such events – despite providing countless streams of revenue each year, not just for the UK music industry, but for the country’s economy in general.
It certainly seems that the lack of action just resembles the Governments’ desire to act fast on such events and really demonstrates just how far down the list UK music festivals, gigs and local grass-root venues are.
There may have to be a rebellious act of courtesy or restriction in the streets again near Parliament, if these are to even be raised in the House. Time will tell if action is set to be taken or not, because if they don’t receive the much-needed insurance and cancel in the coming weeks, the sheer loss and weight of cancelling such events for another trading year, may not see some of our beloved festivals ever returning to our fields again.
