Takedown Festival postponed to 2025
Takedown Festival has been postponed until 2025, organisers have announced.
The two-day rock event had been scheduled to take place at Portsmouth Guildhall in Hampshire on Saturday, April 13 and Sunday, April 14, with Creeper and Dinosaur Pile-Up headlining those nights respectively.
Other acts on the line-up included Cassyette, Hell Is For Heroes, Dream State and Terrorvision.
In a statement shared online this week, bosses wrote: “After careful consideration, we regret to announce the postponement of this year’s Takedown Festival due to take place at Portsmouth Guildhall on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 April.
“Building works currently being undertaken at the Grade II listed venue to transform the basement of the Guildhall into one of the most innovative creative spaces for young people in the country have now been extended across the festival dates, resulting in the loss of two key areas of the festival site and a reduction in capacity, which combined with challenging trading conditions have sadly left the event unviable for this year.”
Organisers went on to confirm that Takedown would return in 2025. They said they hoped to secure “much of this year’s line-up carried forward” to the next edition.
The message continued: “We are currently in talks with all of the bands to see if this is possible for them. Until we are in a position to confirm any details we have decided that all ticket holders will be refunded by their point of purchase.
“We sincerely apologise for any disappointment or inconvenience caused and thank you in advance for your continued support of Takedown Festival into 2025.” The statement ended with the promise: “WE WILL BE BACK!”
Kai and Sarah Harris, Divergent Festivals Directors, added: “We know a lot of people are finding things tough at the moment and while we have extended our early bird price initiatives and offered split payment options, as one of the first festivals of the season, we have found this year to be particularly challenging.
“This combined with the impact of the extended building works has forced us to consider all options and postponement is the only viable option for this year. Takedown Festival has a really loyal following, and we are determined to use the additional lead-time to hit back next year and deliver the event the fans deserve!”
Numerous UK festivals have been forced to cancel or reschedule recently, including Connect Festival in Scotland, Splendour Festival in Nottingham, Standon Calling in Hertfordshire and Barn On The Farm in Gloucester.
The latter event cited “financial difficulties” as the reason for its postponement, with Standon Calling noting the “very challenging climate” for festivals currently.
Speaking to NME last month, figures from the scene explained why so many events weren’t happening in 2024, and discussed what could be done to prevent a disaster for grassroots festivals.
In December 2023, Herefordshire’s Nozstock Hidden Valley announced that this year’s edition would be its final incarnation after 26 years due to the impact of the cost of living crisis.
Meanwhile, a recent report showed that music festivals across the UK would be reaching a “critical” point if they didn’t get a VAT reduction from the government.
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Tom Skinner
NME
