Another turbulent week for music festivals as Vince Power’s Music Festivals PLC is called into administration and Guilfest shuts down after 21 years.
Power’s company, responsible for promoting The Hop Farm festival and Benicassim, said in a statement: “The Company has today resolved to appoint an administrator and once that appointment has been agreed a further announcement will be made in due course.”
The group was seeking additional funds following disappointing sales for its two key events, as previously reported. Trading of shares has been suspended after dropping to 2.13p after opening at 66.5p in June last year.
It's currently unclear what this means for the future of both festivals. When two scheduled Leonard Cohen shows were moved from the Hop Farm to Wembley Stadium recently, Power insisted that it was “Nothing to do with the suitability of Hop Farm as a venue”.
Surrey festival Guilfest also closed this week, with organisers citing the worst weather conditions in the event’s history alongside increased competition as the main reasons for pulling the plug in this report by the BBC.
Organiser Tony Scott said that his company now has debts of around £300,000, adding: "I'd love to see Guilfest keep going, but whoever takes the helm will need deeper pockets”.
This follows the cancellation of Sonisphere and several smaller festivals earlier in the year, though the imminent release of tickets for next year’s Glastonbury festival is set to hopefully refocus national attention on music festivals for next year.
Take a look at out previous report in which we ask: has the festival bubble burst?
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