Latest news with #CherryHintonHall
BBC News
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Two-day music event proposed to save Cambridge Folk Festival
One of the country's oldest folk festivals has confirmed it will return next year after this year's hiatus, but the event is set to only last two days. Cambridge City councillors will consider the scaled-down schedule as part of proposals for Cambridge Folk Festival to try to make it more sustainable and financially proposed event at Cherry Hinton Hall would have two medium-sized stages, as well as more basic camping, to "significantly reduce the infrastructure costs".The festival lost £320,000 in 2024, council officers said. Cambridge City Council has been reviewing the future of the event, which would have celebrated its 60th anniversary this it has organised free and ticketed Folk in the City events at the same venue this Folk Festival began in 1965 and in the past has seen performances from international stars such as Van Morrison, Billy Bragg and Sinead O' local authority said Cherry Hinton Hall would remain the anchor hoped the new format would "protect" the festival while making it "more inclusive and affordable" to more people across different parts of stars both locally and nationally would still be council officers' review indicated it would have to find £500,000 to support the festival in its current form, at a time it is already having to find annual savings of £11.5m. Labour's Antoinette Nestor, cabinet member for culture, economy and skills, said "protecting its legacy" was essential, adding: "We need to address the changes in audience behaviour – such as the decline in people wanting to pay for weekend camping tickets – and ensure the festival returns in a financially-resilient way".But Lib Dem leader Tim Bick was less happy, and said Labour had not encouraged enough views on the matter. He said in a statement: "The in-depth review that they've published doesn't inspire confidence. "It highlights a big weakness in the way the festival has been marketed and a leadership short on vision."He said the line-up, a calendar clash with Latitude festival and inflation had impacted sales this will consider the new proposals on 15 July. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Cost a major factor for any future Cambridge Folk Festival
A major folk festival that was forced to cancel could still return in 2026 but with changes to keep it financially viable, councillors were City Council has been reviewing the future of the city's folk festival, held at Cherry Hinton Hall, which was due to celebrate its 60th anniversary this authority has organised free and ticketed Folk in the City events at the same venue this summer were given an update on the festival at a scrutiny committee meeting on Tuesday, ahead of a cabinet meeting later this month when a decision on the event's future is expected to be made. Cambridge Folk Festival began in 1965 and over the years has seen performances from international stars such as Van Morrison, Billy Bragg and Sinead O' told the meeting the outdoor festival industry was "tough" at the moment, with increasing costs and lower ticket sales making running the folk festival in the same way more "financially challenging".They were still working on their report that would include recommendations for the event's future, but said the likely decision cabinet would be asked to make was to agree to continue the festival in report would include information about any potential investment needed in the first year for a possible new event format, the Local Democracy Reporting Service from Labour and the Liberal Democrats shared concerns the full officer report and the consultants' report had not been made available to them for scrutiny ahead of the cabinet meeting later this councillor Dave Baigent said: "We lost the folk festival this year because officers never passed information to executive councillors that they were cancelling the folk festival, and everybody found themselves embarrassed because it was then too late to have a folk festival."I would have thought that officers would have been a bit more aware of how interested we will be on this particular topic."Liberal Democrat Olaf Hauk suggested the city council looked at using some of the "neglected spaces" around Cambridge for festival events, highlighting in particular Hobsons the Green Party, Jean Glasberg said if people were not buying tickets due to economic hardship, then changing the format of the festival could make it more inclusive, and could help get more local groups involved. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
