Sunderland's Lamplight Festival postponed due to lack of Government guidance around event safety

A new event for the city, the festival was due to take place in Mowbray Park on August 7 and 8 with performances from Kaiser Chiefs, Deacon Blue, Lulu and Frankie & the Heartstrings.

With the Government delaying the complete easing of restrictions until at least July 19, there’s been continued uncertainty around further announcements and the publication of safety guidance around large scale events.

Now, Lamplight, as well as Music in Mowbray headlined by Joe McElderry, have become the latest large-scale events to be postponed.

Councillor Linda Williams, Sunderland City Council's Cabinet Member for Vibrant City, said: "We know how disappointing this news will be, especially as both events were scheduled to take place after Step 4 of the Government's roadmap, but we believe it is vital that we put safety first. Unfortunately, due to the lack of clarity around additional safety measures at large scale events, we are not in the position to move forward with planning for 2021.

"The Lamplight Festival, which was due to take place in Mowbray Park on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 August, will now be held on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 August, 2022, and we are thrilled to be able to confirm the return of Kaiser Chiefs and Deacon Blue, with other artist announcements to follow shortly. Music in Mowbray, which was due to be held at Mowbray Park on Thursday 12 August, will now take place on Friday 5 August 2022 with all artists confirmed to perform."

All existing tickets purchased are valid for the new 2022 dates.

For those ticket holders who can’t make the new dates, refunds will be available. All customers will be emailed directly by either Ticketmaster or See tickets with instructions on what, if anything, they need to do next.Cllr Williams added: "We are really looking forward to delivering both these outstanding events next year. In the meantime, we'd encourage everyone to stay safe and look out for exciting news about our future plans."

Earlier this week, music festival Kendal Calling cancelled its 2021 edition also citing a lack of guidance from the Government.

Organisers said the lack of a Government-backed insurance scheme and the delay to the publication of results from the Events Research Programme (ERP) had contributed to the “heart-breaking” decision.

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