BST Hyde Park festival is CANCELLED due to ongoing coronavirus crisis as organisers says ‘safety comes first’ despite it being a ‘difficult decision’
BST Hyde Park has been cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, festival organisers revealed on Wednesday.
Taking to Twitter to announce the news, they wrote in a statement that it had been a ‘difficult decision’ to make but they felt safety had to come first.
Taylor Swift was set to headline the festival alongside performers such as Little Mix, the event was originally going to take place from July 3 to 12.
Not going ahead: BST Hyde Park festival is CANCELLED due to ongoing coronavirus crisis as organisers said ‘safety comes first’ in a statement shared on Wednesday
In their full statement, festival orgnaisers said: ‘It is with great sadness that we have made the difficult decision to cancel BST Hyde Park 2020.
‘After closely following government actions and statements during the COVID 19 pandemic, as well as consulting with our partners The Royal Parks and wider agencies, we have concluded that this is the only possible outcome.
‘This would have been the 8th year of this event and we were looking forward to putting on amazing, unique shows for hundreds of thousands of fans in the world’s greatest outdoor venue. But safety always comes first.’
Cancelled: Taylor Swift was set to headline the festival alongside performers such as Little Mix (pictured), the event was originally going to take place from July 3 to 12
Reflecting on the current lockdown, they went on: ‘In addition to the government rightly enforcing a prolonged period of social isolation, we would not want to place any extra strain on the emergency services, who we are lucky enough to have working alongside us at our events.
‘We have the utmost respect for them and wish to express our admiration for their dedication and professionalism, which is proving so vital at this time.
‘We also have a responsibility to our staff, fans, event workers, suppliers and sponsors, so we have been closely monitoring all developments before making a final decision.
‘We would like to thank them for their excellent work and we look forward to seeing you all next year when we can celebrate once again.’
Organisers added that all those who had bought a ticket would be contacted directly by May 6 in order to get their refund, as they ‘review future plans.’
They added: ‘If you have not been contacted about a refund by your ticket agent by this date please get in touch with them directly, bearing in mind they will be extremely busy at this time.’
Ending their statement on a positive note, they concluded: ‘We look forward to welcoming you back in 2021 and will be in touch about plans soon. In the meantime, please follow the advice and stay safe.’