More than 100 music festivals in danger of vanishing without critical change

British euphony festivals are nether captious menace (Image: Getty)

More than 100 festivals could vanish successful 2025 delivering a devastating stroke to the UK euphony manufacture unless chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers the lifeline of a impermanent VAT simplification connected summons sales.

Whilst the mega festivals specified arsenic Glastonbury and Reading & Leeds proceed to rake successful immense profits with grounds summons sales, those further down the ecosystem are struggling to survive.

The worrying improvement was revealed successful the UK Music yearly study This Is Music 2024

Which revealed the immense £7.6bn publication the manufacture makes to the nationalist economy.

Highlighting a stellar twelvemonth for unrecorded euphony implicit the erstwhile 12 months with artists specified arsenic Elton John, Blur, Pink and Ed Sheeran each playing large UK shows, with breakthrough acts similar The Last Dinner Party and English Teacher rising to nationalist prominence

Yet whilst large acts blossomed important challenges endanger the UK’s world-leading status.

This is highlighted by an estimated 192 festivals having disappeared since 2019 with 60 festivals announcing a postponement, cancellation oregon closure successful 2024, according to the Association of Independent Festivals.

Katy Perry is 1 of the performers who has agreed to marque contributions (Image: Getty)

This includes the last staging of the hugely fashionable Secret Garden Party successful Cambridgeshire and closure of Cosmic Roots Festival successful Basingstoke and Witcombe Festival successful Gloucester.

The AIF said that without Government involution it fears the UK volition spot much than 100 festivals vanish owed to soaring costs and are urging Ms Reeves to present a 5% For Festivals VAT cut. They anticipation this would supply a life-support strategy whilst the manufacture moves towards a £1 levy connected each stadium, arena and large festival tickets to enactment the grassroots euphony scene.

AIF CEO John Rostron said: “The fig of festivals forced to cancel, postpone oregon unopen down wholly successful 2024, mostly due to the fact that of unpredictable costs and a recognition crunch wrong the sector, shows nary signs of slowing. There is an urgent request for authorities involution done a impermanent simplification successful VAT connected summons income to 5%.”

The Daily Express’ Strike A Chord Crusade is warring to prevention the nation’s failing euphony acquisition strategy and make a much palmy backing exemplary to alteration a reinvigorated endowment pipeline successful which these students tin flourish.

The Download Festival is 1 of the astir fashionable events successful the state (Image: Getty)

UK acts Coldplay, Sam Fender and Enter Shikari on with US prima Katy Perry person already agreed to marque the voluntary publication from upcoming shows and the Government has urged the full manufacture bigwigs to follow the strategy oregon look statutory regulation.

Rostron added: “We cull the thought that immoderate simplification would request to beryllium funded. Venues and festivals are closing and volition proceed to bash so. With little VAT, galore would stay unfastened and marque a affirmative publication to HM Treasury and gross collection.”

The This Is Music 2024 study showed the UK music’s publication to the nationalist system successful 2023 was £7.6 bn - up 13% from £6.7 bn successful 2022 - with £4.6bn successful exports and 216,000 employed.

UK Music’s main enforcement Tom Kiehl said the figures were grounds the “music manufacture is ideally placed to turbo complaint the caller UK government’s ngo to unafraid the highest sustained maturation successful the G7.”