72 UK festivals cancelled in 2024 27 Nov 2024
Fallen festival count doubles year-on-year.
72 UK festivals have now announced a postponement, cancellation or complete closure in 2024 - double the amount that fell in 2023.
31-year-old Tenterden Folk Festival is among the most recent closures, with rising costs among the reasons given for the decision.
With the above figures in mind, plus 96 events lost to Covid, the total number of UK festivals to have disappeared since 2019 is now 204.
Since the start of February, AIF has campaigned for a temporary lowering of VAT on festival tickets from 20% to 5%. A reduction of this kind would have saved most of the events that have closed this year. However, urgent intervention from Government has not yet materialised.
AIF CEO John Rostron said: “This has been a devastating period for the UK’s festival organisers. Ours is a highly important sector that offers opportunities to artists, audiences, and develops creative skills and volunteering opportunities across all of the UK. The festival sector generates significant revenue in and around local economies as well as to the Treasury every year. We have campaigned tirelessly for targeted, temporary government intervention which, evidence shows, would have saved most of the independent events that have fallen in 2024. It is sad to see that this erosion has been allowed to continue under this Government. We have great events, with great demand, and we’re doing all we can. They need to step up, and step up now.”
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THE HEADLINES
Omdia tips music publishers’ revenues to hit $10bn this year (see Reports)
Unit1 Studio launches offering potential for immersive avatar concerts through lower production costs (see Digital)
Are we still in the music business? When your POV is worth more than your mp3s (see Opinion)
Is rock’n’roll dead? (see Features)
Book extract: Body Of Work: How The Album Outplayed The Algorithm And Survived Playlist Culture (see Comment)
With MTV channels switching off, is the music video under threat? (see Features)
Spotify partnering with multinational music companies to develop ‘responsible’ AI products (see Digital)
Sam Fender wins 2025 Mercury Prize (see News)
Spotify working on ‘SongDNA’ feature that showcases the people behind tracks (see Digital)
How far should cultural boycotts go? (see Features)
How Subvert is building a co-op owned Bandcamp alternative (see Digital)
Lucian Grainge outlines UMG’s strategy for generative AI partnerships and product development (see News)
The future of music streaming: Change or be changed (see Comment)
Sam Altman: the man who stole the rights from copyright. If he’s the future, can we go backwards? (see Features)
Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl discusses the company's “tremendous catalogue” (see Features)
There’s a £1 idea that could save small music venues. Is Live Nation holding it back? (see Features)
Breaking down the arguments around VMG’s Downtown Music acquisition (see Analysis)
Vevo report shows how fandom turns passion into impact and purchasing power (see Reports)