How smaller music festivals keep the show on the road
How smaller music festivals keep the show on the road
Adam AikenSun, July 12, 2026 at 6:39 AM UTC
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Maid of Stone has been one of the post-lockdown success stories
Music festivals have been under threat for years, with dozens calling it a day and many others seemingly just about hanging on for dear life.
The trend shows no sign of ending. Red Rooster, which was held for more than 10 years near the Norfolk/Suffolk border, called in the liquidators earlier this year.
Kernowfornia Festival, which was due to take place in Cornwall in September, has been cancelled after just a year, blaming "recent financial developments". Kernowfornia was the successor to Making Waves, which itself pulled the plug back in 2018 because of debts.
But the picture is not just doom and gloom. Among the bad news are success stories, with some independent festivals thriving.
The number of tickets at Nene Valley Rock Festival is capped at 1,000 a day
Nene Valley Rock Festival will be held at Grimsthorpe Castle, near Bourne, Lincolnshire, in September, with FM and Focus two of the headliners.
"We limit our tickets to 1,000 a day," says director Tony Castle.
"We've all seen pictures of Glastonbury where most of the crowd might as well have stayed at home and watched it on TV because they are only watching it on a big screen. Limiting our tickets is a bit of a risk because of finances, but we want to provide a boutique, intimate experience.
"Our success is based on providing our customers with what they actually want as opposed to being a large organisation that is in it for money. We are non-profit making and none of us draws a penny. That allows us to plough every penny we get back into the festival itself."
Things such as providing decent loos with an on-site cleaning team have proven popular, Castle says, as have the free shower facilities. Meanwhile, feedback from the first years prompted the organisers to introduce glamping tents, including some that come with real beds.
It has all helped create "a hardcore of supporters" who will buy tickets before the first bands are announced.
"We have their trust that we'll put on enough bands that they want to see," says Castle, who adds that a cut in VAT for independent festivals would help.
Glamping options were introduced at Nene Valley Rock Festival following audience feedback
Another festival that is relatively new on the scene is Maid of Stone in Kent, which takes place next weekend for the fourth time.
The 5,000-capacity jamboree in Maidstone – which this year will feature the likes of Saxon and Uriah Heep – is on the site of the former Ramblin' Man Fair, which went bust and never restarted after lockdown.
Ramblin' Man had a bigger capacity and attracted bigger acts – Whitesnake and ZZ Top were among its headliners – but it was always going to be tricky keeping it alive without the tens or even hundreds of thousands of attendees that the likes of Glastonbury, Reading and Download pull in.
"Festivals are struggling, there's no denying it," says Maid of Stone's Chris Wright.
"The UK alone has lost over 100 since 2024, and I expect the impending recession and fuel shortage issues will add to that this summer."
Maid of Stone will take place again in Kent next weekend
Wright adds: "Standing as an independent is hard in any industry, but when you're in a niche industry a few companies have way too much say and control, and it's difficult to navigate around that."
It means "smart business decisions" are crucial.
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"As a company, we have had 10 years of creating small community type events and reinvesting any money made back into the company," he says.
"This has allowed us to purchase and own a fair amount of equipment and infrastructure. This helps massively, as the cost of that equipment has doubled in recent years, and it gives us an advantage over someone, say, who is starting out on a year-one show."
Red Rooster has been cancelled this year
John Rostron, chief executive of the Association of Independent Festivals, says there have been 30 cancellations or postponements so far this year but about the same number of events have started up.
"The good news is that many independent festivals are thriving, having had their strongest sales in a long time (for some, ever)," he says.
"There has been a record number of sell-outs and [festivals] selling out early, driven by factors such as how more easily affordable it is to buy a festival ticket with a payment plan.
"But the emerging narrative this year is how tough it is for those independent festivals financially. Margins remain tight, and the biggest challenge is cashflow – so even sold-out festivals are struggling to find the money to get their gates open."
The scene at a previous Rock N Roll Circus
Artists and their management don't always help, Rostron says.
"Topline talent is charging up to double what they were in previous years, and agents are trying to push for payments earlier without good reason.
"More established festivals are able to hold their ground and are able to split payments… but some agents are pushing independents, particularly newer events, for 100% upfront fees, which is crippling promoters who buckle to those unnecessary demands."
A bit of help from the taxman would also help, he says.
"The external intervention we need is from government in the shape of grassroots music festival tax relief. Festivals eat and drink risk, but tax relief mitigates some of that risk."
Rock N Roll Circus is being held in Norfolk and South Yorkshire
Karen Johnson is the spokeswoman for Rock N Roll Circus, which will be held in Norwich and Sheffield next month with James, The Streets and Richard Ashcroft among the bill-toppers.
She says there has been "a creeping dominance" of the larger festival promoters, and the increase in large arena shows for big-name artists has also taken up a greater share of people's spending power.
So what can independent festivals do to help keep the show on the road?
Rock N Roll Circus, as its name suggests, mixes the traditional elements of a music festival with the thrills of high-wire and fire displays.
Johnson says: "Offering value for money seems to be a thing this year, providing choices – day festivals in parks, for example, where the costs of travel and camping are less and where audiences can cherry-pick the artists/genres they like best but still have a festival-style experience."
None of this is to lay the blame at those festivals that have had to call it a day. It is a tough environment, and when a venture fails the biggest losers are often the people behind it, who sometimes lose millions of pounds.
It no doubt keeps the brains behind many of these events awake at night as they work tirelessly to thrive – or, as Nene Valley's Castle says, to "just survive".
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Related internet links
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Association of Independent Festivals
Maid of Stone
Nene Valley Rock Festival
Rock N Roll Circus
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
