The U.K.’s Wild in the Country festival, due to be held Saturday at Knebworth Park, has been cancelled just days after headliner Bjork pulled out.
Organizers Renaissance and Stately Events Ltd today pulled the plug just 48 hours before the dance music fest was due to be held, citing lower than expected ticket sales and the late withdrawal of a key investor.
“This is a very sad conclusion to our passionate efforts to develop an interesting and credible addition to the U.K. festival market,” reads a Stately Events statement posted today on the Wild in the Country Web site. “Unfortunately,” the statement adds, “Wild in the Country has become the latest in a series of festivals that have suffered from a unique and well-documented set of market forces this summer.”
It was always going to be an uphill battle to save the event after Bjork pulled out on June 27, blaming “significant problems with the event, including its staging, sound and lighting it is no longer possible for her to perform.”
Wild in the Country joins an unusually large list of festivals which have been scrapped this year, including the Isle of Skye Festival, Sunrise and Blissfields, Escot Sounds and Wax:On Live.
Stately Events say they will make every effort to ensure ticket purchases for Saturday’s cancelled event are refunded.
Artists booked for this year’s event, which launched in 2004, included Soulwax, Pendulum and Sasha.
