Sonisphere festival organisers have confirmed this summer’s edition has been cancelled, after scheduled headliners Queen originally broke the news on their official website.
In a statement released this morning (March 29th), the organisers claimed the difficulties in putting on a festival in what they describe as a ‘very challenging year’ had proved to be tougher than first anticipated, and have now come to the decision that they would have been unable to deliver an event of expected standards.
“Putting the festival together in what is proving to be a very challenging year was more difficult than we anticipated and we have spent the last few months fighting hard to keep Sonisphere in the calendar,” the statement reads. “Unfortunately circumstances have dictated that we would be unable to run the festival to a standard that both the artists and that Sonisphere’s audience would rightly expect.”
“We want to express our deepest regrets to the artists and to thank all the staff, suppliers and contractors who worked so hard with us to try and pull off what has proven to be an impossible task and we know how much they share in our disappointment. We also want to send a huge thanks to the Sonisphere fans who stuck by us and we are so sorry that we can’t fulfil what we set out to do.”
Organisers also confirmed existing ticket holders will now receive an automatic refund from their point of purchase.