A promise has been made by Bestival‘s organiser Rob Da Bank that the event will be back to its ‘very high standards’ in 2017 after rumours began circulating which put its future in doubt.
Online reports have highlighted commentary from festival-goers since the end of last weekend which have spoken of a general downscaling on-site when compared to previous years.
This has prompted the organiser to release a statement on social media admitting to changes due to being under capacity, whilst insisting this does not call one of the UK’s most decorated festivals of recent years into question.
“Bestival was obviously a slightly different beast this year,” the statement reads. “Festival land has changed a lot, more competition, a wobbly economy etc., and for whatever reason many festivals have not sold as well. We did 40,000 [15,000 under its usual capacity] which resulted in a more compact boutique vibe and back to our roots but by my [Rob da Bank] own high standards sound and tent spec was not always what we would have wanted it to be – we can assure anyone coming back in 2017 that this will be rectified.”
“As far as the festival market goes we can’t dictate what will happen but we can promise that Bestival will be back to its very high standards next year and we will continue to listen to you and use that feedback to improve every year.”
The major bookings for Bestival 2016 came in the form of The Cure, Major Lazer, Wiz Khalifa and Sean Paul.