New Fylde Folk ‘n’ Roots Festival Cancelled
It is with deepest regret and sadness that the Directors of the New Fylde Folk ‘n’ Roots Festival have made the difficult decision not to go ahead with the festival, which was due to take place between 4th – 6th September 2015.
Along with the committee and with support from local venues, businesses and many volunteers, we have worked tirelessly over the past several months to put together an impressive line-up of high-quality national and international artists. However, despite unceasing activity to promote the festival, ticket sales to date have been disappointingly below target, with less than 100 weekend tickets sold, and expected sponsorship has not been forthcoming.
Additionally, one of our Directors has recently undergone surgery for a serious illness, and due to ongoing ill health will now need to withdraw permanently from the festival team. The combination of these factors has forced the Directors to make the pragmatic decision at this time not to go ahead with the festival.
This was an extremely difficult decision to make, and all of us are devastated by this outcome. We would like to sincerely thank everyone who has worked so hard and so enthusiastically to help us in our efforts to make the festival happen. We would particularly like to extend our warmest gratitude to Alan Bell, former Director of the Fylde Folk Festival, for his hugely valued support, advice and mentorship. The Directors are devastated not to be able to continue Alan’s 42-year legacy of running a folk festival in Fleetwood, and applaud Alan for his many years of sterling service promoting and performing folk music in the Fylde.
Whilst the festival will not now be going ahead, we are pleased to note that there will be other live music events taking place in Fleetwood during the weekend of 4th – 6th September. The North Euston Hotel will be holding a Friday night concert in the Ballroom and plan to have live music in the main bar, The Mount Hotel and Queens also plan to have entertainment too, the Steamer Hotel will be celebrating 175 years with free music throughout the weekend, and the Museum are hopeful that they can put on an event. We wish all venues the best for these events, which we wholeheartedly support. Our aim was always to support and encourage the existence of good quality live music in Fleetwood and throughout the Fylde, and we will continue to do this as individuals.