Standon Calling festival has cancelled its 2024 edition saying that production costs have "significantly increased again" making it "practically impossible" to deliver the kind of event that ticket buyers would expect. The Association Of Independent Festivals says this latest cancellation again demonstrates the urgent need for government intervention.
The trade group's CEO John Rostron said yesterday, "Standon Calling is now the ninth UK festival to announce its closure or postponement in 2024, further demonstrating the crisis that our sector is facing and the need for urgent government intervention".
"Festivals are being squeezed by the rise in supply chain costs and the effects of closures and debt incurred during COVID", he added, "meaning they are in a unique, perilous position that threatens the future of almost all but the very biggest operators in the UK".
In a statement posted by Standon Calling yesterday, the festival’s organisers said, "This is not a decision we have made lightly and we have explored every avenue possible to welcome you back in 2024. It has become clear that the costs of running the event, already considerably higher over the last two years, have significantly increased again, making it practically impossible for us to deliver the fully-formed Standon Calling you Standoners have come to love, expect and deserve this year".
Many festivals are struggling to deal with rapidly increasing production costs, and ironically it is often the festivals with the most loyal audiences that suffer the most.
That’s because, for those festivals, the bulk of ticket sales for each year’s event comes almost immediately after the previous year’s edition wraps up. This means that - unless festivals can accurately predict spiralling costs and price them into tickets in advance - they are often putting tickets on sale at prices based on a “best guess” about what costs twelve months on might look like.
Many festivals took a hit because of this on their 2023 editions, as inflation hit double digits between September 2022 and March 2023, meaning they finished their 2023 editions in a precarious state, with many barely breaking even and others ending the season with significant losses. With many costs associated with staging events still rising sharply, those festivals that set ticket prices for 2024 in late 2023 are seeing the same impact this year.
It was already known that Standon Calling was dealing with some financial challenges. A few days before the cancellation, the BBC reported that some performers and food vendors were still owed thousands of pounds from last year's edition of the festival.
A group of performers who played the event in 2023 said they were together owed £12,000. And one food vendor said they were still due £13,000, because all on-site payments at the festival went through a central system managed by the promoter.
Responding to those reports, Standon Calling founder and director Alex Trenchard said: "We apologise for the delay to a small number of payments from our 2023 festival. We are in the process of fulfilling these and contacting any remaining performers and suppliers".
Yesterday's statement about the cancellation noted that many other festivals are facing similar financial challenges. "Sadly, the situation is not unique to us", it said. "So many festival teams work hard all year round to deliver unforgettable weekends of memories in the face of unprecedented financial challenges. Over the last few weeks, several other independent festivals have been postponed for similar reasons".
AIF has long been calling for more government support for the festival sector and earlier this month launched its 5% For Festivals campaign, encouraging festival-goers to lobby their MPs in favour of cutting the VAT paid on tickets to 5%.
In yesterday’s statement, AIF’s Rostron referenced that campaign, adding that the proposed VAT cut is "an evidence-based, simple, sensible remedy that would ease the financial burden on promoters enough for them to return to health. We need this action now, and encourage the public to visit fivepercentforfestivals.com, write to their MPs and support events so their favourite festivals don’t make 2024 their last".
Standon Calling says it will return in 2025 from 24-27 Jul.