Reading's Thames-side Readipop Festival cancelled, but free Fiesta later this summer

Organisers can't risk last-minute cancellation

THIS year's Readipop Festival, planned to take place in Christchurch Meadows, Caversham, in July, has been cancelled.

Organisers said today: "We’ve been working hard to bring Reading a Readipop Festival in 2021 but despite our best efforts we cannot put on the event we’d hoped to run in Christchurch Meadows this July.

"The next Readipop Festival will now be on 8-10 July 2022 with Sugarhill Gang, Badly Drawn Boy, Jesus Jones, Stealing Sheep, Nigel Clark (Dodgy), Transglobal Underground and many more to be announced soon.

"Existing weekend tickets remain valid for Readipop Festival 2022 and all existing ticket holders are invited to attend a smaller all-day event called Readipop Fiesta for free later this summer (if you are one of our valued ticketholders, please check emails from Eventbrite for more details).

"We also plan to mark the original festival weekend with a one-day event on Saturday, July 10, and will announce details of this soon."

Both these events are being made possible with the support of Arts Council England.

The decision not to hold Readipop Festival this year was obviously a hard one. As a charity that provides essential support to vulnerable and underrepresented members of the local community, it relies on funding, Readipop Friends, donations and revenue from the festival to survive and the organisers explained: "Consequentially, the uncertainty and risk of a last-minute cancellation is not a viable option for us and makes it impossible to plan our three-day event this year.

"We share the disappointment of everyone who was looking forward to returning to the banks of the River Thames with us in July and will be making further announcements about tickets and the full line-up for Readipop Festival 2022 later this year.

"We also want to thank the many ticketholders, Readipop Friends and donors who have helped support us through what has been a particularly difficult year for the charity sector."

https://readipop.co.uk