Surprise and sadness that 2025 Cambridge Folk Festival's off
2025-01-19
Category: entertainment

The decision to cancel a folk festival in its 60th anniversary year has been described as "surprising" and "disappointing" by fans and musicians.Cambridge City Council, the organisers of the Cambridge Folk Festival, said the event had lost money in 2024, and it wanted to explore new opportunities ahead of its return in 2026.Singer-songwriter Fran Lusty, who played at the festival for the first time last year, said she was "very shocked"."It's just come as a surprise. It's been going for 60 years and it feels like a funny time to stop," she said. 
Lusty, who was born and raised in Cambridge, first went to the festival - held at Cherry Hinton - as a child with her parents."There are lots of festivals out there, but the Cambridge Folk Festival always opens its doors to emerging artists, it's so sad not to have that."The singer-songwriter said there were fewer opportunities to play live, so "it'll be interesting to see how it recovers". 
Pranathi Ramachandra, from Cambridge, has been a regular festival-goer."I was looking forward to going this year because I couldn't last year. It's disappointing." she said."I had been noticing that the prices had been going up. So even with the residents' discount, it had gotten more and more dear every year."I think there needs to be a solution between raising prices and making things accessible."It does feel it's a big shame though, that people are missing out. I have met people who come every year - all there by the front stage."It's a big part of their lives."
The festival, which gets average crowds of 14,000, has hosted stars including Robert Plant, Joan Baez, James Taylor, Van Morrison, Nick Cave, Lady Blackbird, Peggy Seeger and Suzanne Vega.
Liberal Democrat councillor Cheney Payne said more attempts should have been made to get funding from elsewhere. "There's been no opportunity for consultation, for discussion, no chance for us to reach out to other businesses and organisations who might be willing to help with the cost," she said.
Labour-run Cambridge City Council said previously the decision was an "important step in the evolution of the festival" and it wanted to hear from previous and potential new audiences. A spokesperson said: "It is dear to us too and we are committed to using our resources this year to explore new opportunities ahead of returning in summer 2026 with a fantastic festival."They added customers who had purchased tickets for 2025 would be contacted directly.
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