Splendour festival cancelled leaving organisers 'frustrated'

DHP Family said it was working hard to bring Splendour back in 2025

Nottingham's Splendour music festival has been cancelled this year, with organisers blaming delays over tendering.

DHP Family said it was told by Nottingham City Council in May it needed to bid to continue running the event at Wollaton Park.

But it said the "numerous delays" during the process meant it was now too late to stage Splendour this year.

The council said it was "optimistic" Splendour would return in future years.

George Akins, DHP's managing director, said: "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.

"It has been a hugely frustrating time for us. Splendour could have gone ahead had the council heeded our warnings about the timescales required.

"2023's headliners were contracted more than a year in advance and everyone was aware of this."

Mr Akins said he was "well aware" of the city council's current financial difficulties, but "some of these delays" pre-dated the announcement that the authority was effectively bankrupt.

Splendour has taken place at Wollaton Park 14 times since 2008

He added: "We don't believe it should have had any effect whatsoever. I would also say that Splendour is a significant income generator, not a cost, for the council.

"We would like to take this opportunity to say how sad I am for all the local businesses, musicians and staff that will be affected by us not being able to stage Splendour this year.

"We will always be willing to work with the council to make it happen in 2025 and beyond."

'Very difficult'

A council spokesperson said: "Since its inception in 2008, the festival has grown to become one of the best-loved in the country. We, therefore, completely understand why people will be disappointed that it won't take place in 2024.

"We said last year that under the council's new commercial strategy, the event fell into a category where a formal tender process was needed.

"This was to protect the authority legally, financially and to ensure the festival was achieving best value for the council and the residents of Nottingham.

"The procurement process is complex and has taken longer than we would have liked - this has made the viability of delivering a festival in 2024 very difficult.

"However, we remain optimistic that we will be able to secure an event for future years and hope to announce plans regarding this in the coming months."