Organisers of Ampthill festival ‘devastated’ after being forced to cancel with less than a week to go
The organisers of a new music and wellness festival in Ampthill have said they are ‘devastated’ after being forced to cancel the event, less than a week before it was due to take place.
Resonate Ampthill was originally due to be held at Ampthill Great Park from September 18 to 20, with organisers saying they would bring ‘a weekend of beats, bands and balance’ to the town.
Last week organisers announced a change of venue to The Bowl at Houghton Conquest - only for the event to be cancelled over the weekend.
Organisers told Bedford Today on Friday discussions were taking place that day over the venue and final arrangements.
They explained ‘the safety assurance process’ was not able to be completed in the time available, leading to the landowner of Ampthill Great Park not giving permission for the festival to take place there.
And despite the hope the event could relocate, organisers pulled the plug over the weekend.
In a statement this morning (Monday), organisers said: “Resonate has been almost two years in the making. The ambition was to create something genuinely different for Ampthill and the wider community, bringing together Beats, Bands & Balance - live music and entertainment alongside wellbeing, local businesses, charities and community organisations.
“We did everything we could to save the event, including securing an alternative venue at Houghton Conquest and working at considerable speed through the licensing, transport, production and operational implications of relocating an entire three-day festival at very short notice.
“Ultimately, we had to ask ourselves whether we could still deliver the quality of event we had promised.
“We didn’t believe this could happen, and we weren’t prepared to deliver a compromised version of Resonate simply for the sake of going ahead.”
Friday’s line-up had been due to include five hours of house music and ‘beats’ from a line-up of DJs including television personality Gok Wan.
Saturday’s line-up was due to feature bands, with the scheduled headliners English indie rock band Hard-Fi, who reached number nine in the UK charts in June 2005 with the song Hard to Beat.
They were set to be joined on the bill by performers including BBC Radio Two presenter DJ Spoony, and Luton-based country singer Olivia Lynn.
Sunday’s line-up was due to feature ‘balance’, and organisers had planned to ‘slow the tempo’ by bringing community yoga sessions, a reformer pilates showcase and a chilled house DJ set to the stage.
Organisers thanked everyone for their support following the news of the cancellation, adding: “This decision was not driven by ticket sales - the support from our audience, local businesses, sponsors, charities, volunteers and the wider community has been incredible and demonstrated that there is a real appetite for an event like Resonate locally.
“Our immediate priority is now looking after our customers, artists, suppliers, sponsors and everyone affected by the decision.
“Once the dust has settled, we will take the time to process what happened, what can be learned and what might be possible in the future.
“We sincerely hope there may be a route to bringing Resonate back in 2027, but we don’t want to make promises until we know that can be achieved.”
According to the event’s website, Resonate was created by Shhh Club Ltd, which had ‘over a decade of event experience’, and was ‘designed to become an annual highlight for Ampthill.’