Cosmic Roots cancels 2024 festival citing “unpredictable ticket sales and a rise in production costs”

Cosmic Roots has announced the cancellation of its 2024 edition, which was scheduled to take place in Hampshire next month.

The Hampshire event was originally planned for 5th to 8th September. In a statement made on 15th August, the festival’s organisers cited “unpredictable ticket sales” and increased production costs as the primary reasons for the cancellation.

Ticket holders will receive automatic refunds, according to the announcement. The festival team acknowledged the challenging environment for the industry this year, noting that the financial strain made it impossible to move forward with the festival as planned.

“2024 has been a tough year for the festival industry, with challenges that none of us saw coming… despite our best efforts, it’s left us unable to continue with the festival this year,” the statement read.

The line-up for this year’s edition was set to feature a range of electronic artists, including Vlada, Sophie McAlister, Kia, Lukas Wigflex and Mor Elian. The announcement of its cancellation comes three months on from when organisers revealed that they had extended the festival by an additional day.

Despite the cancellation, the festival has made it clear that it’s not the end. An event with Giant Steps at The Bath House in Hackney Wick went ahead as planned on 18th August, while the team stated that they would take time to reflect and consider the festival’s future.

“We will need to take some time to conjure up plans for what’s next. The love for exploring transcendence with music, art, and installations with a community of artists and dancers will be at the core of what we do.”

“Please know that this is not the end of Cosmic Roots,” the statement concluded. Read it in full below.

The news comes three months after the Association for Independent Festivals (AIF) revealed that, as of May 2024, 40 UK summer festivals had cancelled their 2024 edition.

Read our recent feature: fields of dreams: how do we save the UK festival sector?