THE Boomtown festival 2021 will be cancelled over Covid insurance fears after tickets were sold to 70,000 music lovers.
The popular music event was scheduled from August 11 to August 15, but its organisers fear they cannot go ahead with it without a government-backed insurance scheme.
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The five-day festival sold out its 66,000 capacity in February, but will be cancelled as insurers are not offering cover against Covid-related cancellations, The Times reports.
Organisers are calling for an indemnity scheme to be covered by the government – and say the event cannot go ahead without insurance.
Boomtown’s director of communications, Anna Wade, said she was “devastated” but the decision was inevitable.
She told The Times: “Anyone putting on an event this year will have to do so without the safety net of insurance to cover them should a decision by the government on Covid prevent them from going ahead.
“For an independent event as large and complex as Boomtown, this would mean an eight-figure-sum gamble, risking our future as a festival if we were to proceed and then not be able to go ahead if more restrictions were placed by the government.”
The music industry has been forced to cancel multiple events in the past year due to the ongoing pandemic and its future looks uncertain due to the restrictions still in place.
Music insurance broker Tim Thornhill said more events risk to be cancelled this year if the government does not step in with a plan to provide insurance.
