It’s well known that a lot of metal doesn’t make a ton of money. It’s a labor of love, really. But it’s been depressing to watch metal festivals like Rockstar Mayhem go under because they’re not financially viable anymore. Festivals are a great way to learn new music and love on the bands dear to your heart. It’s also just a great time. We’re sad to report another festival is shutting its doors for good. Yesterday we learned that UK’s Hevy Fest is dead. They already had acts booked, like Refused and Enter Shikari. But before you light your torches and grab your pitchforks, they’ve got some good reasons: their normal venue, Port Lympne, couldn’t continue to host, for one. They also cited it becoming harder to book acts in competition with other festivals, harder to name a headliner, and probably the most important part: harder to offer a good time for the money involved. Check out the full statement:
“Hevy Fest is no more.
After 6 years of incredible bands, legendary hangs, and a lot of monkeys – we’re sorry to announce that Hevy Fest is pulling the plug.
Despite the best efforts of our dedicated team, the festival has become financially untenable. Many things have contributed: Port Lympne being unable to continue hosting the event, the increasingly difficult task of putting together a line-up with more and more exclusives enforced each year leading to difficulties confirming our final headliner, and the pressure to offer good value with spiralling costs. The odds are stacked against anyone taking on the challenge, and they have proven too great for us to overcome.
There is a great community of Hardcore, Punk and Metal supporters in the UK and we hope that other small festivals will be able to grow into this space, and to deliver the event we aspired to.
Ticket holders will be automatically refunded. All monies will be returned in the next 10 working days (including booking fees and postage).
As a small independent event, we want to thank everyone who has supported us over the years.
Hevy Fest // 2009 – 2015″
If you bought a ticket, your money will be refunded within the next 10 business days. RIP Hevy Fest.
via [The PRP].
