Bestival is one of UK’s biggest festivals. Each year it attracts more than 55,000 people. It won “Best Major Festival” at the 2015 UK Festival awards. The festival features Indie/Dance music with headliners in the past like The XX, Major Lazer, Wiz Khalifa, and Silk City. The festival is staying at the forefront of the industry with introducing On-Site Drug testing facilities. After a few years of success they established a smaller, more family friendly festival called Camp Bestival. However, due to financial challenges the future state of Bestival is uncertain.
The four-day festival is in need of new investors after their primary investor, Richmond Group, threatened to put them into administration. Head of Richmond Group, James Benamor, has filed notices at the High Court of pulling the plug on his investments. This past February they extended a loan to Bestival of up to £1.6 million.
To calm future attendees, festival organizers have released a statement on their website acknowledging their financial trouble. They have every intention to put on their summer festivals. It would be unfortunate to have a festival that has received so many positive reviews be cancelled. Lets hope they can find new investors to usher in a new era.
