One of the most quoted numbers about the health of British festivals is kept on a single web page. The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) maintains a running list of "fallen festivals", and on 13 October 2026 it reads: at least 96 during the pandemic, 36 in 2023, 78 in 2024, 43 in 2025 and "40 have fallen so far in 2026". That is close to last year's total with two and a half months of announcements still to come, and well below the 2024 record. Whether it is good or bad news depends on what is being counted, and on when the names were added.

A count that doubled over the summer

The AIF has published the figure three times this year. On 10 June its press release put the total at 20, with WOMAD Glasgow as the twentieth. On 8 September, announcing a support scheme, chief executive John Rostron gave a new number in a statement carried by Festival Insights: "The independent festival sector continues to face unprecedented challenges, with 36 festivals having fallen or postponed this year." Five weeks later the page shows 40.

So half of this year's entries were added after 10 June, with the season already under way. That matters for reading the figure. The tracker does not date its entries, but the later an event pulls out, the more of its budget is likely to have been committed already.

What the tracker counts

The AIF is open about its method. The page says it tracks "all cancellations, postponements or those calling time on their event". That is wider than insolvency. The 2026 list includes Bournefest, postponed at the last moment because of weather, and The Big Church Festival, closed early after a fatality on site.

Reading the 40 entries one by one, this is how they divide by our count. Some entries give more than one reason and some give none.

  • Low or poor ticket sales: 9 entries. Among them WOMAD Glasgow, Country on the Eye, ReyFest, Paisley Alive and Replay Perth.
  • Rising costs: 8 entries. Among them Maui Festival, the three Discovery Festivals, Linton Festival and Hush Festival.
  • A fallow year: 7 entries. Among them Godiva Festival, Wide Awake, Electric Bay, Black Isle Calling and Lochaber Live.
  • A company in liquidation: 3 entries. Kernowfornia, Morvala Festival and Solfest.

The wording of individual entries is more useful than the totals. Red Rooster Festival's statement, quoted on the AIF page, lists the whole chain: "Due to a combination of reduced ticket sales, rising operational costs and ongoing financial pressures, it has not been possible to secure the funding required to deliver this year's event." Electric Bay in Torquay gives a reason that has nothing to do with its own budget: "we couldn't secure the headliners needed to make the festival everything we wanted to be".

New events fail on sales, old ones on costs

Two patterns run through the list. The first is launches that did not find an audience in time. WOMAD Glasgow was to be the brand's first Scottish edition, on 3 and 4 July at Kelvingrove Park. Its promoters said, in a statement quoted by Pollstar, that "ticket sales did not reach the level required to deliver the festival sustainably in its inaugural year". Kernowfornia was cancelled ahead of its second edition as its company went into liquidation. Show of Hands, which was to launch in Somerset this July, has moved its first edition to 16 to 19 July 2027, according to Pollstar.

The second is long-running events that stop, such as Solfest after more than 20 years. Linton Festival called time at the close of its 25th event because, in the AIF's summary, the cost of delivery meant it could no longer raise funds for charities.

Rostron has described both sides of this in his own words. In the June release he said: "Mostly, we're seeing very strong demand from audiences, and some record sellouts, but independent festival promoters are seeing their margins become ever thinner". Two months later he told Ticket Tailor's blog: "This year is the first year where things really feel like they've steadied." The two statements are compatible. A sector can lose fewer events than in its worst year and still have little margin for a wet weekend or a slow on-sale.

What the sector is asking for

The AIF's June release makes three requests of government: carry the temporary reduced VAT rate on family and children's tickets into the 2027 season, write independent festivals into the Creative Industries Sector Plan and the Music Growth Package, which the release says will invest £30 million in music over three years, and pilot a Grassroots Music Festival Tax Relief.

The first of those has a clock on it. The reduced rate of 5% was announced on 21 May and applied from 25 June to 1 September 2026, according to KPMG's summary of the HMRC guidance. The AIF's point is about timing: it wants the extension confirmed now, so that festivals can offer the lower rate "from the moment tickets go on sale in 2026 for next year's events". A decision taken next spring would come after those prices have been set.

In the meantime the association has moved to triage. Its Festival MOT, funded by the LIVE Trust, offers independent festivals a consultation with a panel of specialists. Festival Insights reports that consultations run through October, November and December.

What to watch

  • 28 October 2026: the Autumn Budget, on the date announced by the Chancellor on 31 July. It is the next scheduled moment at which a VAT measure for 2027 could be confirmed.
  • Year end: the final AIF count for 2026, to be read against 43 in 2025.
  • 16 to 19 July 2027: the rescheduled first edition of Show of Hands, one of at least seven events on the list that have named 2027 for their return.

Sources: Association of Independent Festivals, festival cancellations tracker, viewed 13 October 2026; AIF press release, 10 June 2026; Festival Insights, 8 September 2026; Pollstar, 10 June 2026; Ticket Tailor interview with John Rostron, August 2026; KPMG on the temporary reduced rate of UK VAT, July 2026; Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals on the Autumn Budget date, 31 July 2026.