Lib Dems accuse city council of ‘cover-up’ over cancelled Cambridge Folk Festival 2025
An apparent decision to wait months before confirming that the Cambridge Folk Festival would be cancelled this year is “beginning to look like a cover-up”, according to Liberal Democrat councillors.
Last month, Cambridge City Council announced the cancellation of the 2025 festival without any explanation and after tickets had already gone on sale.
The Liberal Democrat opposition on the Labour-run city council have demanded a special scrutiny committee be held to examine the reason behind the decision, but were shocked when they were told it could not be held until 6 March.
Cllr Cheney Payne, one of the Lib Dem committee members who called the special meeting, said: “This matter was apparently well enough developed for a very big decision to be announced on 17 January. So it’s hard to understand why it takes six further weeks to sit down to answer the many questions that councillors want to ask on behalf of the public – unless this ‘slow walking’ is in the hope that people lose interest.
“We’re now hearing that decisions taken not to book headline acts as long ago as last September effectively made it impossible for there to be a Folk Festival in 2025.
“Attempts made by Labour councillors in the media to make this sound like routine operational management seem laughable unless they think not having a Folk Festival at all is regarded as some kind of normal thing!
“With a lot of public money lost last year, this is all beginning to look like a cover-up. What have they been doing since September that justifies keeping quiet about this for so long, when tickets had been sold and the council was holding people’s money?
“Being straight with people as soon as you can is usually the right course of action, unless there’s something to hide. Even when they decided to say something, the process of evasion apparently didn’t stop with appalling ‘news management’ and now attempts to kick the can even further down the road.”
Last month, the Cambridge Independent exclusively reported that Labour city councillors were told in a secret briefing that holding the Cambridge Folk Festival was “not sustainable” this year after the previous year’s event lost £322,000.
The cancellation of the 2025 festival, which was due to mark the 60th anniversary of the event, was announced in a press release headlined ‘Cambridge Folk Festival to return in 2026’. It featured no direct reference to this year’s cancellation, except for a line stating that those who had already purchased 2025 tickets would be contacted directly.
Ticket costs will be returned, or can be used when the festival returns in 2026, but the cancellation has left many fans out of pocket for flights and accommodation already booked.
Opposition councillors say they had been kept in the dark about the decision.
The Lib Dems immediately demanded an extraordinary meeting of the council’s environment and communities scrutiny committee to take place within three weeks – only to be told after a week’s silence that it cannot take place for more than twice that time.
Cllr Mike Davey, the Labour leader of Cambridge City Council, said: “As the organisers of the internationally renowned Folk Festival, it would be inappropriate for us to take major operational and commercial decisions through the committee process, particularly due to some of the commercial sensitivities.
“The decision not to host the festival in 2025 was not taken in September; the team had been working hard to consider all available options for 2025 in the months leading up to January when the decision was taken. The announcement regarding plans for 2025 and 2026 was made promptly after. We wanted to make sure we had alternative events in place which we can promote to our local folk community and regular festival-goers. We are therefore delighted to announce that we will be offering a free folk festival day at Cherry Hinton in the summer, in addition to hosting, with partners, a variety of other folk events across the city this year.
“The additional meeting that has been requested is being scheduled, but council staff need to consult with all councillors regarding the date before it can be confirmed. As soon as we have a date that suits all councillors on the relevant committee, the meeting will be scheduled.
“Last year, 60 independent festivals were cancelled, and 20 have already announced a year off in 2025. Thankfully, many local residents and members of the folk community recognise this wider context, and we have received many positive messages of support since we made the announcement earlier this month. People understand that taking a fallow year is common practice for festival organisers around the world, and that by doing so we are committing to seeing the festival thrive for future generations as it has done over the past 60 years.”