Music festival Kendal Calling cancelled for 2021

Cumbrian music festival Kendal Calling has been postponed.

The event was due to take place from July 29-August 1, in what would have been its 15th year, featuring performances from Stereophonics, Dizzie Rascal and Craig David.

This morning though the organisers have announced that the festival will not go ahead, citing concerns over safety guidance.

The organisers have said the cancellation has specifically resulted from the delay in publishing a report from the Event Research Programme (ERP), which was set to contain information on how events could go ahead.

They said: "Without this safety guidance, there are numerous aspects of the festival we cannot plan, and which could lay us wide open to last minute unforeseen regulations or requirements which could scupper an already built festival. Capacity or density restrictions, track and trace protocol, testing regime, Covid certification – a host of unknown actions required yet potentially requested too late to be implemented."

Thee organisers called on the Government to "reappraise its approach"  and "listen to the recommendations of its own reports".

This is the second year that the festival has been cancelled because of the pandemic,

Last year, the event was called off because of the pandemic.

Tickets will rollover to next year and refunds will also be made available.

The full statement on the event's postponement can be found here.

A DCMS spokesperson said: "We are continuing to work flat out to support festivals and live events including through our ongoing Events Research Programme. Festival organisers have received more than £34 million from our unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund, with more financial support on the way after a £300 million boost at budget."