2025 loses its first festival

16 January 2025 - Press release

Following a record 78 fallen festivals in 2024, Africa Oyé is the first to announce its cancellation this year.

Liverpool’s Africa Oyé is the first UK festival to announce a postponement, cancellation or complete closure in 2025.

The announcement comes after a devastating year for the UK’s festival sector in 2024, with a record 78 events falling throughout the course of the year - more than double the amount (36) that did so the year before.

Upon announcing that the Liverpool-based festival will take a fallow year in 2025, with dates set for a return in 2026, Africa Oyé’s Artistic Director, Paul Duhaney, cited rising costs of 30% as being unworkable, despite record attendance at last year’s event.

“With increased infrastructure and compliance costs, it is simply a case that without major investment to cover the costs of delivering a festival of this size safely, it would be irresponsible to go ahead with the event in 2025,” he said.

Combining the fallen festivals of 2023 and 2024 with the 96 events lost to Covid, the total number of UK festivals to have disappeared since 2019 is now 211.

Since the start of February 2024, AIF has campaigned for a temporary lowering of VAT on festival tickets from 20% to 5%. A reduction of this kind would have saved most of the events that closed last year and those that will inevitably do so in 2025. However, urgent intervention from Government has not yet materialised.

More information on the challenges facing the UK’s festival sector, the 5% For Festivals campaign and a full list of fallen festivals can be found at fivepercentforfestivals.com.

AIF CEO John Rostron said: “Last year was one of the most turbulent times for the UK’s festival market with a record number of events disappearing from the calendar - despite strong sales. Festival promoters are used to working with fine margins, but they have been eroded to near zero since the pandemic with skyrocketing costs compounded by the impact of Brexit on some elements of the live music sector. This problem will not  ease without direct Government support. Without intervention, the UK will keep losing these successful businesses and cultural cornerstones of communities all over the country.”