Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business Top Stories

Creamfields calls off second day after flooding

By | Published on Tuesday 28 August 2012

Creamfields

Organisers of the now Live Nation-owned Creamfields festival had to call off the show half way through this weekend after heavy rainfall left parts of its Cheshire site flooded. On Sunday morning those with day-tickets were told not to come to the festival’s site, while those camping were asked to leave early. Sets from the likes of Deadmau5, Calvin Harris and Sub Focus had been due to take place later that day.

A statement on the dance event’s website read: “Following heavy rainfall over the last 24 hours, significant and heavy flooding is affecting the Creamfields arena near Warrington. No serious casualties have been reported, and Cheshire Police and partner agencies are supporting event organisers in ensuring the safety and welfare of festival goers during this time”. Extra public transport was laid on to help festival-goers depart the flooded site, while an announcement regarding any ticket refunds is still pending.

In nearby Liverpool, much of the city’s Mathew Street Festival was also cancelled because of very strong winds. Some indoor events did go ahead, but the street-based activities that were expected to attract tens of thousands of visitors were called off. Liverpool City Councillor Wendy Simon told the BBC: “It’s when you mix rain and heavy wind that you have got the risk of barriers broken down, street signs and the potential for flying objects. And when you have got a lot of people in a small place moving quickly you then risk crushing and people being trampled, and we are not prepared to risk that”.

The latest cancellations round off a bad summer for British festivals. Poor weather forced a number of events to cancel, while also routinely putting off last-minute ticket buyers from attending events that desperately needed some extra sales, as the combination of a poor economic climate and extra competition from Olympic-related entertainments took hold. And with insurance premiums likely to be up significantly in 2013, given the cancellations and weather-based site damage caused this summer, next year could be a challenging year too.



READ MORE ABOUT: | |