Music festival cancelled due to low ticket sales

Headland Festival in Scarborough was first launched in 2017

A music festival scheduled for the August bank holiday weekend has been cancelled due to rising costs and low ticket sales, organisers said.

Headland Festival was due to take place at Hulley's Farm in Scarborough from 23 to 25 August with a line-up that included bands, cover artists and DJs.

Festival director James Taylor said the decision had been made in order to "protect the company".

All ticket holders would be issued a full refund, he said.

The festival, which first launched in 2017, became a community interest company earlier this year.

The annual event aimed to provide a platform for grassroots and up-and-coming artists and a low-cost music event for festivalgoers.

Mr Taylor said rising costs, red tape, a slump in ticket sales and unsuccessful funding bids had made this year's event "untenable".

He told the BBC: "We are pretty good value for money - it’s £50 for a whole weekend.

"We literally can't do it any cheaper, so we need a certain amount of people to make it viable."

Headland Festival was due to take place over the August bank holiday weekend

Headland Festival is one of several events across the UK that have struggled to stay afloat amid rising costs.

In May, the Association of Independent Festivals said at least 42 UK festivals had announced a postponement, cancellation or complete closure in 2024.

People's spending habits, impacted by the cost of living crisis, were also a factor, Mr Taylor said.

"I can understand why people are holding off buying tickets until the last minute because a lot of events get cancelled," he said.

"But events get cancelled because people are not buying tickets. It’s almost a self-fulfilling prophecy."

He said the amount of paperwork required and a lack of support from authorities were also making it increasingly difficult for small event organisers like him.

"There is a feeling within funding bodies that music festivals are inherently profitable and should stay on their own two feet," he said.

A spokesperson for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said festivals were "one of the pillars of our world-leading music sector".

They added: "The government is committed to supporting our creative industries, including festivals, so they can thrive for years to come, celebrate our nation's wealth of talent and drive economic growth into communities across the country.”

Despite this year's setback, Mr Taylor said he remained hopeful that Headland Festival would return in the future.

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