Kendal Calling Festival Not To Go Ahead In 2021 Due To ‘Complete Absence Of Guidance’

The organisers of Kendal Calling festival have blatantly blamed the government for “a complete lack of guidance” for their decision to cancel the 2021 festival.

It was due to take place at Lowther Deer Park, Cumbria, from 29 July to 1 August after it had been cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.

Why?

The organiser Andy Smith has said that the delay in the publication of studies of the government of the experimental festivals that have been held is making proper planning impossible.

Stereophonics, Supergrass, The Streets and Dizzee Rascal were set to headline.

It is believed that there were about 25,000 people who were to take part in the festival and exhibition which depicts art and music during the 4-day period.

Mr Smith said it was “a complete absence of any guidance from the government, adding: “The fear for us is we build a festival and we find out on, say, 21 July we have to double the size of our campsites or something.”

“We don’t know what that could be, it could be anything. It’s a complete unknown.”

Sense Of Togetherness

He revealed that 25,000 seats were sold-out in record time in February. It shows how a lot of people were looking forward to enjoying a feeling of joy and a sense of togetherness at the festival.

However, the organisers had to spend anywhere between £1 million and £2 million for the next two weeks to stage the festival, with no warranties or guarantees, said the project lead.

‘Heartbreaking’

The organizers said that in the case of cancellation in 2020 it was sad but understandable but that the same is happening again this year, it was “heart-breaking” and”ridiculous”.

“If calls for a government-backed insurance scheme had been heeded we could have potentially continued over the coming weeks,” they said.

“We take this opportunity to urge the government to reappraise its approach and to listen to the recommendations of its own reports.” source: BBC

The festival is now expected to take place from the 28th to the 31st of July, 2022.