By Monk
UK Tech-Fest has become the latest festival to be cancelled for the second successive year, with the lack of government support for independent music events once again being cited as a primary cause.
This year’s event had been due to take place in Newark over the first weekend in July, but has now been rescheduled for next summer.
The organisers have released the following statement:
“It breaks our hearts to bring you this news that UK Tech-Fest 2021 is cancelled. UK Tech-Fest will now take place Thursday 30 June – Monday 4 July 2022. We’ve been exploring all options to make the festival happen this year, but plain and simply there’s just too much stacked against us.
“We’re not the first to cancel and sadly we won’t be the last, as the main factor for us all is insurance. We really wish we had a crystal ball and could see what will happen in June. Going by the roadmap, in theory we should be fine, but the fact that the Government haven’t put their money where their mouth is and cough[ed] up a Government-backed insurance scheme for the festival and live events industry, says it all. As a small, independent festival we can’t afford to take the financial risk without the security and protection from such a scheme.
“And then there’s the bands. Many of our international artists have had to cancel their shows and can’t travel to the UK. We’ve explored booking a UK line-up but (while that would be awesome) there’s still the big risk without insurance.
“Current ticket holders – your tickets will automatically be valid for 2022 and refunds will be available to those who wish. Thank you to those who rolled their tickets over last year or donated their tickets, if you are able to do so again this year we would be extremely grateful.
“For all ticket enquiries check out our FAQs, or email [email protected].
“[Re] tickets for 2022, we’re delighted to announce we have instalment tickets available so you can pay for your ticket monthly from now to June 2022. It’s been a hard year so we hope this helps spread the cost.
“If you can support us further we would love you to check out our new merch store – lots of discounts and bundles available!
“Stay safe and we’ll see you in Newark next year.”
