Image credit: Boomtown

Festival owners have been calling on the UK Government to implement an insurance to make it financially feasible and realistic for them to go ahead in 2021.

The Winchester-based festival has announced that it will not be going ahead in 2021, adding to a list of canceled events this summer, including Glastonbury. The event has cited that the lack of Covid specific insurance policy from the UK Government as the reason. 

Festival organisers have been asking for a Covid cancellation policy since the beginning of January. Although the roadmap out of lockdown allows for events to potentially happen this summer, there is no security in place for festivals or events should the plans change, which they are still could. 

In a statement released by Boomtown organisers they explain the decision: 

“After almost half a year of collective campaigning to the government, sadly COVID specific cancellation insurance for events still does not exist at this point in time. This means anyone putting on an event this year, will be doing so without the safety net of insurance to cover them should COVID prevent them from going ahead in any capacity.” Adding: “For an independent event as large and complex as Boomtown, this is a huge gamble of up to an eight figure sum and the financial risk is simply too high.“We have been doing everything within our power to try to find a solution to the conundrum of putting on a safe and well-run event to the sheer scale, complexity and intricate nature of Boomtown this summer. Unfortunately, without any clear indication of what size events will be able to take place, and the conditions in which we will be able to operate, we have come to the conclusion that time has simply run out for us to be able to proceed in a way that would live up to our high safety and production standards for the event we had planned.”

Worry not though as the festival has said its returning next year on August 10th-14th.

This announcement is another bump in the road towards a possible festival season this summer. Although festivals have been selling out tickets and promising they’ll be going ahead, seeing a festival of this size and notoriety cancel is likely going to send shockwaves through the events industry, especially those hoping to run this year. Hopefully, smaller-scaled events will still go ahead and we get some form of live music in 2021.

Watch our footage of Boomtown in 2019 (ahh simpler times) here: