Newcastle's LooseFest music festival called off at last minute

Organisers said heavy rain had left the site unsafe for festival-goers with further bad weather to come

A music festival billed as the biggest in the north-east of England has been cancelled due to bad weather just as it was due to get under way.

LooseFest, a two-day event event at Newcastle's Town Moor, was set to feature Sean Paul and Craig David.

Acts were due to begin performing at 12:00 BST, but shortly after organisers announced the festival's cancellation.

They said they had been advised the site was "not safe to open" with further heavy rain expected.

Up to 60,000 people were expected to attend across the weekend with other artists including Chase and Status, Tinchy Stryder and Example lined up across five stages.

Electronic signs on the site announced the event's cancellation

'Devastating news'

In a message posted on social media, organisers said: "We deeply regret to announce that despite previous weather assurances and the best efforts by our festival and site team, unfortunately for reasons beyond our control LOOSEFEST23 is cancelled this weekend.

"We have been advised by the safety team and local authorities are in agreement that the festival site is not safe to open.

"With more heavy rain due over the weekend unfortunately we have been instructed that it will be a full festival cancellation.

"We appreciate this is absolutely devastating news."

Information about refunds would follow shortly, they added.

Late announcement 'shambles'

Ticket-holder Jack Douglas, who had made a four-and-a-half hour drive from Daventry, in Northamptonshire, on Friday, described the last-minute announcement as "a shambles".

"We've rented an apartment for the weekend and taken time off work after booking the tickets four or five months ago.

"People have spent a lot of money and the ticket for the festival was about £100.

"We've heard nothing from the organisers through the week about it potentially being cancelled so we thought it was all going ahead as normal.

"It's come out of the blue. We were going to go about 2.00, but a mate was in the queue when they were told at about 12:30."

Jack Douglas (second left) and his friends say organisers should have given more notice of the cancellation

However, LooseFest director Brian Austin defended the move and said organisers acted upon safety guidance by local authorities.

"Unfortunately due to extreme weather conditions at the last minute, the rain has just made it impossible to work the site.

"It's our utmost responsibility to keep people safe. Everyone did everything they could to make it workable. Overnight rain just made it really difficult.

"I hope people will support the show for next year. I just pray we get better weather."

Mr Austin said rumours a festival stage had collapsed were untrue, adding "everything is done with the utmost professionalism" by an "incredible" team.

"It just comes down to the weather. It's the one thing we can't control."

'Massive trenches'

Fellow director Steven Bamford described the site as having "massive trenches" and "big holes in the field".

Simon McHardy, director of crowd safety and security at the event, said a site inspection was carried out on Saturday morning.

"It's always difficult at the eleventh hour to make a decision like this.

"But the inability to get ambulances and police on site if required would stop the show regardless of the hard work done on site.

"Everything looks amazing. We're devastated to not be able to carry the show through."

With events of the Town Moor scrapped, a number of clubs in Newcastle, including Tup Tup Palace and Riverside, are welcoming festival ticketholders for a "huge day to night rave".

Two weeks ago Northern Pride suffered the same fate as LooseFest on the Town Moor with heavy rain forcing the cancellation of its second day.