Nottingham’s Splendour festival is set to return next year with a new deal between the city’s council and promoter DHP Family close to being finalised. The 2024 edition of the festival had to be cancelled in January after delays in a tendering process put in place by the local authority - which related to the onward production of the festival - meant there wouldn’t be time to deliver the event once that process was completed.
Splendour originally began in 2008 as a partnership between DHP and Nottingham City Council, staged in the city’s Wollaton Park, which is managed by the local authority.
In 2018, a new five year deal was put in place that saw the relationship between DHP and the council evolve to reduce the council’s financial risk. Then, after the 2023 edition, the council decided the festival was now a ‘concession’, which meant the running of the event had to be put up for tender.
According to the Nottingham Post, a report put together in advance of a council meeting due to take place next week admits that the cancellation of this year’s edition of the festival has had “a detrimental reputational impact on the city alongside a loss of income to the council”. The report adds that getting a deal in place to safeguard the future of the festival was important for the city because the annual event “has created positive recognition, economic and social benefit”.
The tendering process took longer than originally intended. When announcing that the 2024 edition of the festival would not go ahead, DHP boss George Akins told the BBC: “We have tried hard to make Splendour work in 2024, but the delays caused by the tendering process have meant this just hasn't been possible”.
The delays it had caused were, Akins said, “hugely frustrating”, adding that the council was aware of the timelines involved in staging the festival and that “2023’s headliners were contracted more than a year in advance”. But, he added, “we will always be willing to work with the council to make it happen in 2025 and beyond”.
The council report states that the council and DHP are now “largely in agreement” about the terms of their new deal, which will cover the next five editions of the festival, which are expected to generate around £11.8 million in revenue.
It’s no secret that the festivals market is incredibly challenging at the moment, especially for independent promoters. The Association Of Independent Festivals recently revealed that more than 40 festivals have now cancelled, postponed or shut down this year, and the total number could top 100 by the end of the year unless more government support is provided.
So, while it was understandably frustrating for DHP that this year’s Splendour couldn't go ahead, at least a deal is now in place that should safeguard the event through to 2029.