Electric Fields festival cancelled after venue switch
- Published
Thousands of people attended the 2018 event at Drumlanrig Castle in 2018
The Electric Fields music festival has been cancelled less than two months after it was moved from southern Scotland to a new venue in Glasgow.
Metronomy, The Vaccines and Frank Turner were among the acts due to perform at the event between 4-6 July.
Organisers announced in April that they were moving the festival from Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfries and Galloway to SWG3 in Finnieston.
However, on Tuesday they confirmed the event would not now go ahead.
The announcement followed fans' complaints on social media, after attempts to buy tickets via the Electric Fields website were greeted with the message: "This show has been cancelled".
Fans trying to buy tickets via the Electric Fields website were told the show was cancelled
It included a Manchester-based number for the festival's ticketing company, Ticketline, for fans wishing to claim a refund.
On Tuesday afternoon, Electric Fields posted a statement on their Facebook page, external saying it was "with a heavy heart" the festival had now been cancelled.
It said: "This decision has not come lightly and we have put in our all to try avoid this outcome, however we have been faced with challenges that we simply cannot overcome.
"As of today, Electric Fields ceases trading. For information on ticket refunds, please contact your location of purchase.
"We cannot thank you enough for your support over the years and we are truly sorry that we have not been able to make this work."
It continued: "Never did we think the party we threw in a field in Thornhill for 100 of our friends would turn into a party for 7,000 in the grounds of a castle. Especially not in five short years.
"But it did, and that is thanks to all of you who came along and made it what it was."
'Killed the vibe'
One fan who had previously attended the festival but was given a refund last month after the switch to Glasgow explained why he had asked for his money back.
Iain Kyle said: "It was a great family weekend and it introduced the kids to some fantastic music they may otherwise not have experienced.
"The move to SWG3 just killed the whole vibe for me as it was no longer going to be time away and highly unlikely to be a similar atmosphere.
"It is a fairly congested market in Glasgow with TRNSMT and Summer Sessions already and they lost that family-friendly feature which made it so different."
In April, Electric Fields blamed "ongoing logistical and transport challenges" for the decision to leave Drumlanrig.
SWG3 said that fans who had bought tickets for the event once it had been moved to Glasgow via the venue's ticket provider, Ticketweb, would receive refunds within 14-28 days.
A spokeswoman for SWG3 added that this would apply to about 80 customers.
More than 8,000 fans saw Noel Gallagher in action last year
Last year's festival is estimated to have generated £1.5m for the local economy in southern Scotland.
More than 8,000 watched the Friday night headliner - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - in an attendance record for the festival.
- Published17 April 2019
- Published16 April 2019
