Festival goers at Leeds Festival have been left angry and disappointed after acts they had paid to see were cancelled at the last minute. The Warehouse stage, introduced this year as a purpose-built home for electronic and dance music, was shut down on both Saturday and Sunday because of overcrowding, with sets from Silva Bumpa, Locky and Omar+ among those pulled.
Closure announced via app
An update sent out on the Leeds Fest app on Saturday said: “The Warehouse in Leeds will be closed for the rest of the day.” Similar disruption also took place at Reading Festival, which runs across the same weekend with acts performing alternate dates at both venues.
Ticket holders, some of whom spent more than £300 on camping passes for the full event and endured torrential rain and muddy fields, had hoped the issues would be resolved by Sunday but were told about the further closure.
Artists and fans react
Silva Bumpa apologised to fans on Instagram, saying: “So sorry Leeds Fest but due to overcrowding my set was cancelled last min. I was just behind the stage and got told right before. Such a massive shame.”
Festival goers told the Manchester Evening News that The Warehouse was the main reason they decided to attend the festival. One 17-year-old said: “We came for the full event from Thursday to Sunday and were really looking forward to seeing Silva Bumpa and the others. On Sunday it seemed like it was all going to go ahead as planned and then it shut again. Everyone looked so deflated.”
Refund demands and safety praise
Day tickets alone cost £155 for Saturday and £125 for Sunday, and some attendees are now demanding refunds from organisers Festival Republic. One parent said: “This is terrible management. My son and his friends were planning to spend most of yesterday and today in there and they’ve spent over £300 each just to get on site, let alone the money they’ve spent once in there. For a group of 17 year old (well behaved) lads, that’s an huge amount of money to have spent. Very very disappointing.”
Another added: “A lot of these kids have saved up for this to see their favourite DJs perform. I do think their needs to be some sort of refund issued to make up for it. How can you just take people's money and then not deliver, it's really unfair.”
Others have praised the event team for prioritising safety, with one commenter saying: “From what I’ve seen, the Leeds Fest teams work tirelessly and incredibly hard, often in difficult circumstances, to keep everyone safe. Hats off to them for shutting down spaces if this is needed.” Another said: “If there is overcrowding, the organisers did the right thing. But they need to make limited tickets to the space in future. I wonder if raves have a place at live music festivals, and whether they should hold specific rave festivals separately if demand is that high.”
The Manchester Evening News has contacted Festival Republic for comment.
