The financial health of the UK’s festivals circuit is, in many cases, precarious. The success of Glastonbury, by far the most significant live outdoor event in the UK music calendar, is not a reliable indicator of the health of the country’s wider festival scene.
The closest the festival circuit has to a trade body – the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) – lists 50 festivals as cancelled, postponed or closed this year. It expects the end-of-year total to be 100. This is part of a wider, and worrying, UK trend.
