Festival to shut down after £300,000 losses

The operators of Bingley Music Festival said they will not be holding the festival this year after running into losses of £300,000 with last year’s event.

Bradford Council are the organisers of the three-day festival, which has seen the likes of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, The Charlatans, Happy Mondays, The Cribs and Melanie C, with more than 15,000 people attending.

The council said it would be looking at alternative operating models, including partnerships, to enable it to fund the event next year, according to the BBC.

A statement on the Bingley Music Festival Website said: “The three-day music event, which has been a popular fixture on the festival scene over the years, will be taking a fallow year in order to give the land and local population a break as well as giving the organisers a chance to take a breath and evaluate the future delivery of the festival.

“We believe that taking a year out will allow for the delivery in 2020 of a well-planned, financially viable and sustainable festival that provides a great experience for visitors to and residents of the district.”

Steve Hartley, strategic director of place at Bradford Council, said: “Unfortunately we have had to take the difficult decision to take a year out of Bingley Music Live this year.

“It is not a decision that we have taken lightly, but we feel that we need to take a year out to take stock of the event’s organisation.

“In these difficult financial times for councils up and down the country, we cannot afford to lose money on the event.”