The UK’s twin Reading and Leeds Festivals have become the country’s latest major music event to be canceled as result of the Coronavirus.
The events, which had booked headliners Rage Against the Machine, Stormzy and Liam Gallagher, were due to take place over the weekend of August 28-30.
In a statement issued today (May 12), organizers wrote that they had been “closely monitoring this unprecedented situation and we were hopeful we could deliver the ultimate festival to you in August, something to look forward to in these strange and confusing times”.
“However, it has become clear that it’s just not possible for this year’s festival to go ahead,” it added.
“We are working closely with our ticketing partners and they will be in touch very soon to process your refund, or, if you prefer, you can retain your ticket and carry it over to next year.”
“We were hopeful we could deliver the ultimate festival to you in August, something to look forward to in these strange and confusing times”.
Reading & Leeds
The announcement follows the UK government’s updates over the past two days regarding its strategy to ease the country’s lockdown.
Reading and Leeds’ cancellations follow the cancellation of most of the country’s major music festivals, including Glastonbury Festival, Live Nation’s Download and Isle of Wight Festivals and London’s BST Hyde Park 2020.
You can read the event’s statement in full below:
Reading will no longer be taking place this year. We’ve been closely monitoring this unprecedented situation and we were hopeful we could deliver the ultimate festival to you in August, something to look forward to in these strange and confusing times. However, it has become clear that it’s just not possible for this year’s festival to go ahead.
We want to extend our gratitude to our teams, artists and partners who work so hard each year. And to our fans, we’re nothing without you – we thank you for your continued support and understanding.
We are working closely with our ticketing partners and they will be in touch very soon to process your refund, or, if you prefer, you can retain your ticket and carry it over to next year. Look out for an e-mail from your ticketing agent and please only contact them if you have not been contacted after 7 days as they are very busy at this time. If you purchased your ticket from a physical outlet, please contact that outlet to obtain your refund.
We’re already counting down the days to when we’re back in the fields we call home for the August Bank holiday weekend. We promise you that Reading 2021 will be worth the wait.
Finally, we encourage everyone to continue supporting our emergency services, who provide invaluable support and assistance at all our events and we again express our gratitude, admiration and thanks for their dedication and professionalism which is proving so vital at this time.
Keep safe, keep healthy and look after each other.
Photo credit: Lindsay MelbourneMusic Business Worldwide
