Rishi Sunak urged to announce support for festivals during Budget
Updated: February 26 2021, 6.05pm
A senior Tory MP has urged Chancellor Rishi Sunak to announce additional support for festivals as part of the Budget next week Ben Birchall/PA)
A senior Tory MP has called on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to announce additional support for festivals as part of the Budget next week.
Julian Knight, who is chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said the sector needs “more than a road map” if the summer circuit of events is to go ahead.
The Treasury has previously dismissed calls, backed by more than 100 organisations and individuals from the performance sectors, to extend an underwriting scheme offered to other creative industries including film and TV.
BBC News
Published
image captionPeople who bought tickets in 2020 were refunded or given the chance to transfer them to 2021
The return of Creamfields in the summer is positive news for the live music industry , organisers have said.
Covid-19 forced the cancellation of the Cheshire-based festival in 2020.
However, organisers said the sold-out Daresbury event would go ahead on August Bank Holiday Weekend if lockdown restrictions were eased as planned.
A spokesman said the upcoming festival, which will see Chase & Status, Eric Prydz and Carl Cox perform, had seen the fastest ever ticket sales.
image copyrightGetty Images
image captionCreamfields has been at the Daresbury site since 2006
Ticketmaster sees colossal rise in traffic after road map announcement independent.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from independent.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Last modified on Fri 22 Jan 2021 10.22 EST
After the cancellation of this year’s Glastonbury festival cast doubt on whether this year’s UK festival season could go ahead, British event organisers say that a lack of insurance is “the biggest barrier” to their viability. But the government is resisting a commitment to providing indemnity for the sector, akin to the Film and TV Production Restart Scheme announced in July.
Many festivals are not insured for communicable diseases and the insurance market is not offering Covid-19 cover for cancellation and business interruption. In response to the Glastonbury cancellation, the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, said on Thursday: “We continue to help the arts on recovery, including problems around getting insurance.” It is not clear whether insurance was a factor in the Glastonbury organisers’ decision.