Ways With Words, which runs literary festivals in the Lake District, Suffolk and Devon, has cancelled its forthcoming festival, saying it is not “currently viable” because of the UK’s cost of living crisis.
The organisation had been due to put on Words by the Water, a 10-day event in Keswick, in March 2023. But after experiencing low ticket sales for its festival in Dartington, Devon, in July this year, the decision was made to cancel the Lake District gathering and cease planning events for the foreseeable future.
In a statement on its website, Ways With Words said that “like many businesses and organisations in the last two and a half years” it had “faced incredibly difficult challenges”. Unable to run festivals during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, it then returned to hosting “limited audiences”.
“From there the country has moved into an economic situation where households are facing difficult financial choices,” continued the statement. “We know from other colleagues and literary festivals that most literary events have seen smaller audiences and lower revenue.
“As a small team, we have worked incredibly hard to keep Ways With Words going since 2020 but sadly we are no longer currently viable and we have had to make the decision to cease running events.”
Speaking to BBC Radio Cumbria, Leah Varnell, managing director at Ways With Words, said that cancelling Words by the Water had been an “incredibly difficult heartbreaking decision”.
Varnell spoke to the Guardian in August and warned that the cost of living crisis was affecting spending on non-essential activities and outings. She said at the Dartington festival in July it was clear that “the mood music seemed that ‘leisure’ activities had to be jettisoned due to the already felt increased cost of fuel/food and there was a palpable anxiety about how much more expensive life may yet become and for how long the cost of living pressures would be felt”.
At the time, Varnell said Ways With Words faced a “serious discussion” about whether 10-day festivals were viable, or whether a “a shorter weekend festival and standalone individual events” would be a better path. She had also warned that she expected to see “a significant number [of other festivals] cancel and perhaps close over the coming months or year”.
In the latest statement, Ways With Words said it hoped to continue running literary events and was “currently researching how this might work”.
“We will cherish the many happy memories from all our festivals over the years and we thank you for all your support,” the organisers said.
