Readipop 2025 cancelled over financial pressures

The Readipop festival will not go ahead next year due to financial pressures, its organisers have said.

Gavin Lambos, founder of the popular Reading-based event that raises money for community projects, said 2025 would have to be a "fallow year".

He told BBC Radio Berkshire the decision had been made with a "heavy heart".

In a statement posted on its website, the charity said it had become "increasingly difficult" to put on an event of that scale with a small team.

The statement explained the 2024 festival costs were "significantly" more than Readipop's income, which has had an impact on the rest of its charity work.

It continued: "We tried to keep ticket prices down during a time of financial difficulty for many, but like many other events, we have struggled with the rising costs and other challenges that occurred post Covid.

"We’ll be taking time to re-evaluate the structure and inner workings of the festival to make it more effective for everyone involved."

Talking to radio host Bridgitte Tetteh, Mr Lombos said: "It's a story happening across the country with independent festivals.

"Post pandemic it's taken us a while to recover, but at the same time we've seen costs increasing across the board, the infrastructure costs - every item is more expensive, artists' fees growing and competition from big shows - all those things combined add up to making it really, really difficult."

The festival usually attracts up to 5,000 people and Mr Lombos said the public's support meant "everything".

"What's been really heartening is to see so many people talking about it being a musical highlight of the year.

"We know we're disappointing people but we're hoping, and expecting, this won't be the end.

"I can't say anything yet, but we're going to try out different approaches and depending how they go, how the funding situation looks, it might lead to different ways we can offer a festival experience in and around Reading in 2025 and 2026."

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