Splendour festival has been cancelled for the second year running due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and uncertainty around the lifting of restrictions.
The news was announced today (June 23) by organisers DHP Family, who had said in March they hoped to go ahead with the July 24 event at Wollaton Park in Nottingham.
“We’re devastated that we’re having to postpone for a second year running,” DHP Family said in a statement.
“We know this will be disappointing to everyone who had plans to attend, but also for all the artists, contractors and staff who count on Splendour for work.
“We can only say how sorry we are that we couldn’t make it work for this year.”
Festivals around the country had hoped for a full season after the Government announced social contact restrictions would be lifted on June 21, according to a ‘roadmap’ out of pandemic regulations.
But the emergence of a new more transmissible ‘Delta’ variant of the virus led to the date being moved to July 19 – just five days before Splendour 2021 was due to take place and causing more uncertainty on how long the impact of restrictions will last.
DHP Family added they are already planning the 2022 event. This year’s line-up was to be headlined by Richard Ashcroft. Supergrass, Rick Astley, The Vamps, and Mel C were also on the bill.
They added: “We wanted to say a huge thanks for your patience whilst we figured out our options, this took a little longer than we had hoped. Following the announcement that lockdown easing is being delayed, we’ve now made the difficult decision to postpone Splendour Festival.
“As much as we were looking forward to a day of fantastic music with you all, the
four-week delay has meant we just won’t be able to stage this year’s event.
“We’re currently talking to all the acts from this year’s line-up to check their availability for next year, and we’ll have the line-up with you as soon as we can.
“If you already have a ticket for this year’s event we’d urge you to hold on to it, it will be valid for 2022’s festival. This helps to support Splendour and all the fantastic musicians who play at it.”
In 2019 the festival attracted 25,000 music lovers after tickets sold out in record time. This year’s festival was set to feature 40 acts across five stages. Manic Street Preachers and the Specials headlined the 2019 event.
