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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Tess Reidy

UK summer music festivals forced to close as cost of living crisis hits home

The audience at Newcastle’s This is Tomorrow festival in 2021, but this year’s event has been cancelled after poor sales.
The audience at Newcastle’s This is Tomorrow festival in 2021, but this year’s event has been cancelled after poor sales. Photograph: Jill ODonnell/Alamy

Blissed-out crowds, sunny fields and pop-up tents. This year was meant to be a vintage year for festivals, and there’s barely a weekend this summer when there isn’t one happening somewhere around the country.

But while big hitters such as Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds are already sold out, sales elsewhere are flatlining, and many promoters are struggling to sell tickets in the face of rising costs. Some events due to take place in the coming weeks – including This Is Tomorrow in Newcastle, Brainchild in Bentley, East Sussex, and Summerfest in Ewood Park, Blackburn – have been cancelled.

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