Several UK-based festivals have been cancelled as the parent company Wannasee Ltd says it is “unable to continue”.

Among the casualties is Sunderland’s Kubix Festival, thought to be the largest music festival in the North East of England.

Launched in 2018, the popular pop and dance festival has hosted the likes of East 17, Peter Andre, B*Witched, Ronan Keating, Steps, Sugababes, Busted, UB40 and Vengaboys.

This year’s edition would’ve seen Shaggy, A1, Louise, Liberty X, Gareth Gates, Basshunter and more perform in Herrington Country Park on 12 July.

“We’re heartbroken to confirm that Kubix Festival will not be going ahead this year,” the festival’s organisers wrote on social media. “Despite enormous efforts behind the scenes, recent developments have made it impossible to continue.”

“We are devastated… Wannasee has delivered nearly 100 independent festivals over the past 13 years”

Wannasee also announced the cancellation of Monument Festival in Sunderland, Wannasee Penrith and Wannasee South, Jukebox Sunderland and Jukebox Bingley, Sign of the Times, Stone Valley South, Stone Valley Midlands and Stone Valley North. However, Lindisfarne Festival and Northern Kin will go ahead as planned.

“Despite extraordinary efforts behind the scenes to secure the future of WannaSee’s events, we’ve reached a point where continuing is no longer possible,” the firm said in a statement posted on Sunday (25 May).

“The impact of a difficult trading environment, combined with a sudden collapse in customer confidence, has left the business unable to recover,” it continued.

“We are devastated. Wannasee has delivered nearly 100 independent festivals over the past 13 years – made possible by the hard work and passion of our team, the incredible support of artists, crews and suppliers, and most of all, the loyalty of our audience. We are proud of what we achieved and heartbroken to see it end this way.

“To all of our ticket holders: we are truly sorry. We understand your disappointment and frustration. Please contact your ticket provider or card issuer for refund information. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for being part of this journey.”

A record 78 UK festivals announced a postponement, cancellation or complete closure last year – more than double the amount that fell in 2023. The total had surpassed 40 by mid-May 2024, but currently stands at around 15 as of April 2025.

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Billy Joel has cancelled all of his upcoming shows after being diagnosed with a rare brain condition.

The 76-year-old singer-songwriter – known for classic hits like Piano Man, Uptown Girl and We Didn’t Start the Fire – has Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH), which is caused by a build-up of fluid in the brain.

“This condition has been exacerbated by recent concert performances, leading to problems with hearing, vision and balance,” reads a statement posted on Joel’s social media accounts.

“Under his doctor’s instructions, Billy is undergoing specific physical therapy and has been advised to refrain from performing during this recovery period. Billy is thankful for the excellent care he is receiving and is fully committed to prioritising his health.”

“He is grateful for the support from fans during this time and looks forward to the day when he can once again take the stage,” the announcement continues.

“This condition has been exacerbated by recent concert performances, leading to problems with hearing, vision and balance”

Joel had several shows planned throughout the second half of this year, as well as a few performances scheduled for the first half of 2026. His cancelled appearances include his joint dates with Sting, Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks, as well as his solo gigs.

The New York-born artist previously delayed several of those tour dates by four months after revealing that he had recently undergone surgery, though he did not disclose his medical condition at that time.

The IAG-repped act had been poised to make history on his trek, as his now-cancelled shows at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, NY; Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ; and Citi Field in Queens, NY, would have made him the first artist to play all three NYC-area stadiums in one summer.

Last year, Joel wrapped up his decade-long concert residency at New York’s Madison Square Garden (cap. 20,000) with his 150th career show at the venue.

Joel was named MSG’s first-ever music franchise in December 2013, beginning his stint in January 2014 and playing one gig every month at The World’s Most Famous Arena for “as long as the demand continues,” as he said at the time.

More than 1.9 million tickets were sold to fans from more than 120 countries over the course of the 104-night run, which reportedly grossed over $260 million (€239m).

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Long-running Portuguese festival Super Bock Super Rock will not take place in 2025, according to the beer brand.

“As is public knowledge, Super Bock Super Rock is changing promoters,” reads a statement from the sponsor, Super Bock. “In this sense, we are in the process of transitioning with the aim of holding a major festival in 2026.”

Late last year, it was announced that Música no Coração would no longer organise the major international festival after launching it 30 years ago.

“My company turned 33 last Friday – 29 of those years were made in a partnership with the Super Bock brand,” Música no Coração MD Luis Montez told IQ in February.

“We are in the process of transitioning with the aim of holding a major festival in 2026”

“We are still partners in other events, but I realised, as a businessman and in tune with the brand, that this was the right moment for Música no Coração to end its involvement with Super Bock Super Rock, leaving behind a unique brand and legacy that has, year after year, built a national and international reputation.”

Super Bock Super Rock has been organised in various formats and locations in Portugal, Spain and Angola. The festivals have hosted international stars such as Prince, The Cure, David Bowie, Van Morrison, Coldplay, Pixies, Metallica, Arcade Fire, Travis Scott and Kendrick Lamar.

The 2024 edition, which took place between 18–20 July at Herdade do Cabeço da Flauta, was headlined by Måneskin, Stormzy and 21 Savage.

The Lisbon counterpart Super Bock em Stock, organised by Música no Coração, did not take place last year.

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Groovin The Moo, an annual Australian festival that has booked acts including Billie Eilish, alt-J and Wolf Alice during its 19-year history, has been shelved for a second consecutive year.

“Groovin the Moo won’t be happening in 2025, while we work on finding the most sustainable model for Australia’s most loved regional touring festival,” the organisers said in a statement, posted today.

“We will really miss seeing the smiling faces of all our beloved Moo Crew … In the meantime, which artist would you most like to see on a GTM lineup?”

In February 2024, Groovin the Moo cancelled all six of its dates two months before the festival was due to kick off, saying ticket sales had “not been sufficient to deliver a regional festival of this kind”.

Australian Festival Association managing director, Olly Arkins, commented on the fresh cancellation: “Regional festivals like Groovin the Moo play a vital role in connecting audiences with live music outside of major cities, providing opportunities for artists, local businesses, and festival workers. But like many events across the country, the rising costs of production and ongoing challenges in the industry have made it increasingly difficult to operate.”

“But like many events across the country, the rising costs of production and ongoing challenges in the industry have made it increasingly difficult to operate”

“This cancellation highlights the urgent need for the federal government to extend Revive Live [a live music grants program which issued $7.7 million as part of the 2024-5 budget] funding to ensure festivals of all sizes can continue to thrive,” he added.

The news comes weeks after Splendour in the Grass, the long-running New South Wales festival staged by Live Nation-backed Secret Sounds, was cancelled for a second consecutive year.

The two cancellations hint at another turbulent year for Australia’s festival sector, which suffered a number of casualties in 2024. Events including Harvest Rock, Spilt Milk, You & Me, Promise Village, Coastal Jam, Summerground, Vintage Vibes, Tent Pole: A Musical Jamboree and ValleyWays were axed due to either financial difficulties amid the cost-of-living crisis or slow ticket sales.

In other news for the Australian business, TEG CEO Geoff Jones has been awarded an Order of Australia Medal in the 2025 Australia Day Honours List for his “significant contributions” to the live entertainment industry in Australia, and on the global stage.

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FKP Scorpio Belgium has cancelled its Antwerp-based festival Live is Live for 2025.

“It is with a heavy heart that we must announce that Live is Live will not take place this year,” organisers said in a press release.

“Over the past three years, we have built a festival that has acquired a permanent place in the rich Belgian festival calendar. After careful consideration, we have decided that we cannot fully meet our own high standards this year.

“Despite the tireless efforts of our team and the desire to create something special, we cannot offer a programme this year that fully reflects the vision of Live is Live. That is why we choose to skip an edition. This is not a farewell, until 2026.”

Live is Live launched in the summer of 2022 as a three-day affair on the beach of Zeebrugge, Bruges, and has since undergone many changes.

For its second edition, Live is Live moved to Park Middenvijver in Antwerp in a condensed format as organisers “were able to offer a strong programme for only two days”.

“We cannot offer a programme this year that fully reflects the vision of Live is Live”

This year, the festival returned to Park Middenvijver with a three-day format, headlined by The National, The Smashing Pumpkins and Paulo Nutini.

Other acts that have performed at the festival include Gossip, Interpol, Sheryl Crow, Ben Howard, Passenger and Mogwai.

Despite the absence of the festival, Park Middenvijver will still host live music this summer with singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran becoming the first artist to perform a solo show.

Live is Live is the largest and best-known Belgian festival to be cancelled in 2025 after a number of smaller events were axed.

Rock Ternat, a two-day festival that was launched in 1993 and has hosted both national and international acts, has come to an end.

Organisers said rising costs and pressure on volunteers had become untenable for the festival. The Ternat-based festival has hosted international acts including The Used, Trivium, CKY and Arch Enemy.

Elsewhere, it was recently announced that two-day domestic festival Buikrock in West Flanders had gone bankrupt after issues with its payment system Bancontact.

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Sam Fender has cancelled his remaining tour dates for 2024 after “haemorrhaging his right vocal cord”.

The singer-songwriter was due to play a second Glasgow show tonight (18 December) and his home city of Newcastle on Friday, in the final stint of his first UK arena tour since 2022.

In a social media post, the North Shields-born musician said he recently had the flu and investigations revealed he had haemorrhaged his right vocal cord.

Fender said he was “absolutely heartbroken” but two separate doctors had said if he performed he would be “risking lasting damage”.

The singer said he had been advised to go on vocal rest and not use his voice for a “prolonged length of time until it heals”.

Fender is due to kick off the US leg of his tour in February, before performing across Europe in the spring.

Fender said he was “absolutely heartbroken” but two separate doctors had said if he performed he would be “risking lasting damage”

Next June, the CAA-repped act will perform at the 75,000-capacity London Stadium on Friday 6 June, marking his first stadium show outside Newcastle and his biggest-ever headline show.

He’ll then return to the north for two hometown shows at Newcastle’s St. James’ Park on Thursday 12 and Saturday 14 June.

It’ll be the third and fourth time the North Shields-hailing musician has performed in his home city stadium, having sold out two nights back in 2023. He will overtake The Rolling Stones who have performed at St James’ Park on three previous occasions.

The 30-year-old has had trouble with his vocal cords previously, cancelling his 2019 tour when he had laryngitis and was concerned he could haemorrhage one of them.

“I’ve done everything by the book this tour living like a monk, it’s so unlucky,” he wrote on Instagram. “This has been the best tour so far and all I want to do is get up and sing again for you all tonight. I’m so, so sorry to all of you who are on your way tonight.”

Fender added he and his team were trying to find a way to reschedule the dates.

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Organisers of the UK’s World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) festival have announced that it is taking a break next year before returning to a new home in 2026.

Co-founded by legendary artist Peter Gabriel, the 40,000-capacity event has been running for over four decades and has been exported to 27 countries.

The UK edition has been held at Charlton Park near Malmesbury, Wiltshire, since 2007. Organisers say that the 2026 edition of the festival will take place nearby, though an exact location hasn’t been revealed.

“To ensure that the festival can continue to thrive for years to come in our new location, we have decided to take a year off in 2025 before returning fully charged in 2026,” Gabriel said in a statement.

“WOMAD, like many festivals and events, has seen some challenges post covid and we are now engaged in the process of re-evaluating, regenerating and reinvigorating everything we do – and where we want to go in the future. We’re delighted to say we’ll be announcing our new plans over the next few weeks.”

“To ensure that the festival can continue to thrive for years to come in our new location”

Over the next 12 months, WOMAD editions will be held in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Spain. Further events in Las Palmas (Spain), Brazil and Chile are also on the cards, as well as a “special UK event” in lieu of the flagship.

“We want to send a massive thank you to all of the brilliant staff at Charlton Park who made us feel welcome for the last 17 years, pulling us out of many sticky situations (quite literally, on those rainy weekends!),” Gabriel’s statement continues. “We couldn’t have done what we did without you.

“Also, to the fabulous community in Malmesbury, Charlton, and all the surrounding villages for whom we created a few days of disruption each year. You have always responded positively and embraced WOMAD, welcoming us into your community and working with us in so many ways.

“Finally, thank you to all of the Festival-Goers, Artists, Crew, Contractors, Volunteers and Traders who make WOMAD possible, a treasure in the festival calendar and a vital contribution to bringing communities together from all over the world to celebrate diversity and tolerance through Music, Arts, Dance, and Culture.

“We look forward to welcoming you all to our new site in 2026.”

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Massive Attack have cancelled their US tour at the last minute due to what they describe as “unforeseen circumstances”.

The British trip-hop band were set to perform in the US for the first time in five years, with the first concert scheduled for this Thursday (17 October) at Atlanta’s Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre.

Other US dates included a performance at III Points Festival in Miami FL, and headline shows in Atlanta GA, Washington DC, Boston MA, and Forest Hills NY before the end of the month.

“Due to unforeseen circumstances, Massive Attack must regrettably cancel their upcoming performances”

“Due to unforeseen circumstances, Massive Attack must regrettably cancel their upcoming performances…We appreciate your understanding at this time,” reads a statement from the band.

Massive Attack are represented by UTA in North and South America.

The band recently announced a weekend of live music at Liverpool‘s M&S Bank Arena next month, featuring IDLES and Nile Rodgers, under the banner Act 1.5 presents…

The announcement came on the heels of Act 1.5, the band’s groundbreaking eco-friendly concert in their home city of Bristol.

Read IQ‘s recent interview with A Greener Future’s Claire O’Neill about Act 1.5 in Bristol here.

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German festival Full Force will take a break in 2025 due to “several challenges [the organisers] cannot easily overcome”.

Launched in 1994, the Goodlive-promoted event brings some of the biggest metalcore, hardcore and punk acts to Ferropolis, Saxony-Anhalt, each year.

“Over the past weeks and months, we have made every effort to ensure that the festival can take place as usual, but the “most metal place on earth” will unfortunately have to remain silent next year,” reads a statement from organisers.

“The reasons for the cancellation are complex and confront our team with several challenges that we cannot easily overcome regarding the upcoming year,” it continues.

“We would like to offer you a festival that meets your needs, but the current circumstances unfortunately make it impossible for us to hold the festival as usual next year.”

Last year’s edition took place across three days in June and was headlined by Electric Callboy, Gojira and Papa Roach.

“The ‘most metal place on earth’ will unfortunately have to remain silent next year”

Organisers say they are currently working on preparing and implementing the 2026 edition of Full Force.

The news comes months after Goodlive announced that MELT – which also takes place annually at Ferropolis – would not return after 2024.

The decision to discontinue the 20,000-capacity festival, which has taken place since 1997, was partly due to “insurmountable changes in the festival landscape”.

The swansong edition took place in July with over 120 artists, including Sampha, James Blake, Sugababes, DJ Koze, Romy, Marlon Hoffstadt, Overmono and Skepta.

Goodlive, which was acquired by Live Nation GSA in 2022, also promotes festivals including Splash! Heroes Festival and Superbloom Festival.

Read IQ‘s recent interview with Goodlive’s Fruzsina Szép on the 2024 editions of Superbloom and Lollapalooza Berlin.

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Spilt Milk has become the latest casualty in Australia’s diminishing festival season.

“We couldn’t get you the Spilt Milk you deserve this year,” wrote organisers on social media last Friday (26 July). “We will come back when [we] can make all your dreams come true.”

The multi-city event started in Canberra in 2016, expanding to the Gold Coast and Ballarat in 2019 and Perth in 2023. Across its run, the festival hosted artists including Dom Dolla, Vince Staples, Lorde, Cub Sport, RL Grime, Peking Duk, Khalid, Juice WRLD, Steve Lacy, and Post Malone.

Spilt Milk is promoted by Kicks Entertainment which in 2022, was bought by Live Nation-owned promoter Secret Sounds.

Secret Sounds heralded one of the highest-profile casualties of this year when it pulled Splendour in the Grass, due to “unexpected events”.

The festival scene has been deemed “in crisis” since the beginning of this year when six notable festivals were cancelled in quick succession: Groovin The Moo, Coastal Jam, Summerground, Vintage Vibes, Tent Pole: A Musical Jamboree and ValleyWays.

“We couldn’t get you the Spilt Milk you deserve this year”

More events have since been cancelled due to a laundry list of issues such as bushfires, floods, the pandemic, rising insurance costs, the cost-of-living crisis and state regulations.

These woes were distilled in a Creative Australia report that revealed that only half of the country’s festivals are profitable. Earlier this month, the Australian Festivals Association pleaded for “the ongoing war on festivals” to end.

Australia’s House of Representatives has responded to the plight of the festival sector – and the music industry as a whole – with a new inquiry.

The standing committee on communications and the arts last week hosted three rounds of public hearings with industry stakeholders such as trade bodies, broadcasters and event organisers.

In the first round, the committee were told that “a national strategy to ensure the live music industry survives”.

Brian Mitchell MP, the chair of the committee, said that “the committee looked forward to continuing its deep dive into the operational and regulatory challenges facing the live music event industry”.

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