Another Hop Farm festival sinks as High Definition goes under

In the wake of the failure of live music veteran Vince Power's Hop Farm Festival, and the subsequent failure of the replacement festival at the same farm (after which the promoter called the Kent farm "cursed ground") another event at the same site has failed: It seems the organisers of the dance music festival High Definition set for the 5th of September are the latest to fall out with the owners of the Hop Farm in a dispute over whether or not the promoters had met all their licensing requirements. According to the Kent & Sussex Courier, organisers have sent out a message to ticket-holders that reads: "Due to the actions of The Hop Farm last week it is with great regret that the directors have taken the decision to cancel all future events. The decision is beyond their control due to the action of third parties and the impending insolvency of the company. Professional advice has now been received in this respect and steps to place the company into liquidation have been taken. Notice of the creditors' meeting under Section 98 of the Insolvency Act 1986, to place the company into Creditors Voluntary Liquidation will be shortly issued". Ticketholders have been advised to seek a refund from their bank or credit card company, or they can opt to swap their tickets to the cancelled festival for a ticket to one of three other events taking place in September. 

http://www.thehopfarm.co.uk/events/256/high-definition-festival/

FESTIVAL NEWS

Cumbria's CockRock festival won't take place in 2014, but also mightn't happen ever again. CockRock organisers have released a statement describing the festival's future as "uncertain", adding that "over the last few years as with many festivals we have suffered financially, this coupled with a number of unwelcome restrictions that have been placed on the festival has meant that we have struggled in many ways" saying  "It's with great sadness and a very heavy heart that we must now announce that CockRock will not run in 2014. At this moment in time we cannot say if we will return again in the future, we hope this is not the end but at the moment the future for CockRock is very uncertain. We're truly gutted to say we won't be running next year and that our lovely town that we are very proud to live in no longer has a large capacity music festival".

London-based Field Day will next year lengthen from its erstwhile single-day duration to a 7-8 Jun weekender. Tom Baker of Eat Your Own Ears, who co-host the event with Bugged Out!, BleeD and Lanzarote, said "I am thrilled that Field Day is now taking place over two days in London's Victoria Park. It's been a long time coming. I can't wait to reveal who's playing... so keep your eyes on @fielddaylondon for more super exciting news very soon!" Super early bird tickets are already available for day one of the festival, so get them via the Field Day site.

575,000 public votes have been totted up, and the finalists in the UK Festival Awards are now out - as picked by the great British festival fans. The ceremony will be at the Roundhouse in London's Camden on Monday December 2nd and you can see all the nominees here.Tickets for the UK Festival Conference & Awards start at just £40 and are available through the UK Festival Conference & Awards’ official ticketing partner Eventbrite, to order please visit festivalawards.com/tickets/.

Hop Farm organiser Vince Power has released a statement to say that his event will be making a return next year, but it will be in Tunbridge Wells. The event was cancelled this summer due to poor ticket sales and was due to host My Bloody Valentine, Rodriguez, The Horrors, Jimmy Cliff, The Cribs, First Aid Kit, Dinosaur Jr, The Presidents Of The United States Of America, Martha Wainwright, Edwyn Collins, and more. The festival which started in 2008 was set to be held at the The Hop Farm Family Park which will be holding the other Hop Farm event for 20,000 people next year. Read more on Efestivals.

Hop Farm cancelled

Vince Power has announced the cancellation of this year's Hop Farm Festival, due to take place on the 5th and 6th July, citing poor ticket sales as the reason for the decision. As previously reported, Power salvaged the Hop Farm brand after the collapse of his last vehicle, Music Festivals Plc which left Hop Farm Festival suppliers, including the local police force, a total of £4.8 million out of pocket according to local press. This year's festival was due to be headlined by My Bloody Valentine and Rodriguez and The Horrors, Jilmmy Cliff, The Cribs and Dinosaur Jr were also set to perform across the weekend.

Read more at http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/70102#ge4J9cEyPPQjZrXH.99 

Power back on the Farm

Vince Power confirmed that the Hop Farm festival will return this summer. The previous company that ran the event, Kent Festivals Ltd, collapsed when its parent company, Power's Music Festivals plc went bust last year, but Power again owns the rights to stage the Hop Farm event, and will announce a line-up for a 2013 programme soon. Power had also bought back the rights to Spain's Benicassim festival from the short lived Music Festivals plc business.  Local newspaper Kent On Sunday published a story claiming that the Hop Farm owed £4.8 million when Music Festivals plc went under, and listed the debts owed by the company that included £100,000 owed to Peter Gabriel, £46,000 owed to Suede and  £22,000 owed to Kent Police.

Power Failure

Vince Power's listed company Music Festivals plc has called in administrators as of September 23rd.  Previously the company had said that it has unable to secure new funding, and that it was had asked the Alternative Investment Market to suspend trading in its shares. The company owns the UK's Hop Farm festival and Spain's Benicassim, The Feis Festival in Finsbury Park, London and a new festival called Costa de Fuego, also in Spain. The company suffered particularly from poor ticket sales at the Hop Farm, although the 2012 edition of Benicassim was also not sold out, prompting Power to lend the company £750,000.  In a statement yesterday the firm said: "The board of Music Festivals has resolved to appoint an administrator and once that appointment has been agreed a further announcement will be made in due course". Power owns 23.29% of the shares and his family another near 20% stake. COO / Finance Director Jon Hale owns 5%. 

Cohen moves to Wembley

Vince Power's Music Festivals Plc has moved it's two Leonard Cohen shows scheduled for the Hop Farm in Kent to Wembley Arena, with shows on the same dates, the 8th and 9th September. The UK's inclement weather was blamed. Ticket holders were offered refunds or the opportunity to exchange their tickets for the new shows. The company's share price also hit an all time low of 3p - whilst Benicassim in Spain turned a profit, it was lower one than in 2011 and the Hop far Festival made a loss. As a result, the company told shareholders earlier this month that "financial results for the year ending 31 Dec 2012 would be significantly lower than market expectations" and that it expects to report "a material loss" for that twelve month period. Power has loaned the company £750,000. When Music Festivals Plc launched on the Alternative Investment Market in 2011 the share price was 65p.

After reports of very low audience numbers at the recent Hop Farm Festival in Kent (June 29 to July 1), a July 3rd statement to shareholders from Vince Power's Music Festivals plc has said that sales for both Hop Farm and the company's flagship Benicassim festival in Spain, were lower than expected, and that this was affecting the company's revenues. 


Power has made an unsecured loan of £750,000 to provide more working capital for the company


Hope farm was headlined by Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel and Suede and Benacassim features New Order, Florence & The Machine, Stone Roses and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. 

Two more UK festivals cancel

Following in from the admission from Vince Power's Music Festivals plc that ticket sales in the UK festivals sector this year were "currently slower than last year", as was Bencassim in Spain, two more music events have pulled the plug this week, with the Cheshire-based Cloud 9 and Golden Down in Winchester, joining the already cancelled Sonisphere, Rough Beats and the Big Chill, Cloud 9 ticket holders will all get refunds, while those with tickets for Golden Down can opt to take a refund or swap their ticket for access to this year's Glade Festival.

There is aso a very good article in the Observer newspaper on May 27th - "Beat surrender: why the heart of British rock music is under threat" looking at small venue closures - its all here at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/may/26/rock-music-venues-bust-britain

Power warns of festival ticket sales slowdown

Vince Power's Music Festivals group yesterday warned that economic woes are hitting sales at its Hop Farm Music Festival in Kent and its Benicassim event in Spain. Mr Power said tickets for Hop Farm, which takes place at the end of June and features Bob Dylan, left, as the headline act, "are currently slower than last year". Benicassim, which is held in mid-July, is also suffering from flagging ticket sales, despite announcing some big-name acts including Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and New Order. "The festivals market in general has been affected by the continued depressed economic climate and the availability of strong revenue-generating acts," said the AIM-listed company, which is now looking to cut costs. Shares in Music Festivals tumbled 3.5p to a record low of 42.5p. They have crashed more than 30 per cent since their 65p debut last June. 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/music-festivals-is-hit-by-ticket-sales-drag-7771446.html