Event Industry News

Lanhydrock Festival falls victim to credit crunch

NEXT summer’s Lanhydrock Festival has been called off because of concerns over the economic downturn.

The National Trust cancelled the festival, claiming it would be “irresponsible” to hold it.

The Lanhydrock Festival is a charity event which raises funds for conservation and preservation work on the trust’s Lanhydrock estate near Bodmin, Cornwall.

The event, which has been held for more than 10 years, regularly draws up to 10,000 customers and has hosted performances from international acts such as the Dandy Warhols as well as local bands such as Rosie and the Goldbug.

But the trust said there were fears that not enough tickets would be sold and there would be significant financial losses.

Nick Lawrence, the trust’s area manager for Cornwall, said: “We are incredibly disappointed. However, we feel that this is the best and only option considering the current economic climate.

“We have decided that there is a strong likelihood of not selling enough tickets, and consequently, as a charity, it would be irresponsible of us to risk losing significant amounts of money.”

After starting as a jazz concert, the event moved to blues, and then rock, before becoming a festival with a selection of diverse acts.

Festival event organiser Brian Muelaner said: “It’s a real shame. However, it will give us an opportunity to work on putting together an even bigger and better festival in 2010.”