Houghton Festival cancelled just days after Boardmasters due to extreme weather conditions

8 August 2019, 12:16 | Updated: 8 August 2019, 12:20

Houghton - which was due to take place in Norfolk - has been cancelled due to extreme weather

Houghton Festival has been cancelled due to extreme weather conditions, it was announced today.

Taking to Facebook, the organisers wrote: "Tragically, following this morning’s reports and further consultation with authorities, health and safety and all the festival directors, the decision has been made to cancel Houghton 2019.

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"Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers, staff and performers, which would be compromised if we were to go ahead.

"Please do not turn up on site today, and pass this message onto anyone else you know who may be leaving for the event today."

The Norfolk Festival was scheduled to start tonight (Thursday 8 August), and the line-up featured Ricardo Villalobos, Four Tet, Shanti Celeste, Derrick Carter, Maayan Nidam and Ben UFO.

Boardmasters Festival, which was also due to take place this weekend, also announced its cancellation earlier this week.

Houghton Festival cancelled: full statement:

Over night, weather conditions on-site at Houghton Festival have dramatically worsened and are set to deteriorate further into the weekend.

Tragically, following this morning’s reports and further consultation with authorities, health and safety and all the festival directors, the decision has been made to cancel Houghton 2019.

We are utterly devastated. All the hard work, love and creativity that has gone into planning and producing this year’s event made this an almost impossible decision to make.

This was set to be a wonderful weekend and the boldest step we have ever taken as a festival. However, nothing is more important than the safety of our customers, staff and performers, which would be compromised if we were to go ahead.

Clearly this will cause a lot of disruption and a lot of questions. However for now we can confirm the following:

- Houghton Festival 2019 cannot go ahead.
- Please do not travel to the show.
- Information regarding refunds will be available later today.
- Please do not request refunds until we have confirmed the process.

Please understand that this decision has been made with the deepest of consideration.

Craig Richards, Tom Elkington, Tom Carpenter, Digby Neill (Houghton Directors)