The Isle Of Wight Festival has been cancelled due to the “unprecedented situation” around the Covid-19 pandemic, organisers have announced.
The annual music event was due to take place from June 11-14 at Seaclose Park, Newport, with acts including Lewis Capaldi, Lionel Richie, Snow Patrol, The Chemical Brothers and Duran Duran on the line-up.
It will now not go ahead until next year.
A statement from festival organisers posted on social media said: “The Isle of Wight festival will no longer be taking place this year. This decision has not been taken lightly and we have tried our hardest to make it work, but it was unavoidable given the current status.
“The whole team was excited to welcome everyone to the island for another fantastic festival and we extend our sincere apologies to everyone who was looking forward to it as much as we were.
“The safety of our audience, artists, crew and the Isle of Wight community is paramount and we appreciate your patience whilst we’ve been working through this unprecedented situation.
“We’ll be back stronger than ever in 2021 and we hope to see you all again next year.”
Fans were advised they could get a refund on their tickets, or carry them over to next year.
They were also told to visit the festival’s website for information regarding ferry bookings to the island.
The statement ended: “We hope everyone stays safe and we’ll see you in 2021.”
Rock music festival Download was also cancelled on Thursday.
A statement posted on the festival’s Twitter page said that organisers have “been closely monitoring this unprecedented situation and it’s become clear that it just isn’t possible for the 2020 festival to go ahead”.
“This decision hasn’t been taken lightly and we’re beyond disappointed, we extend our heartfelt apologies to all of you – we really did try to make this work.”
Download 2020 will not be going ahead, read the full statement here. pic.twitter.com/zyMSk91iMu
— Download Festival (@DownloadFest) March 26, 2020
Organisers said the festival, due to take place on June 12-14 at Donington Park with headliners Kiss, Iron Maiden and System Of A Down, will return in 2021.
The Isle of Wight Festival and Download are the latest in a line of similar cancellations due to the spread of coronavirus, following the scrapping of Glastonbury in the UK and Coachella in the US.
Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Dundee was also cancelled earlier this month.
The British Summer Time Festival, which is held in London’s Hyde Park and features Post Malone, Little Mix, Kendrick Lamar, Pearl Jam and Taylor Swift on the line-up, has not been cancelled.
Organisers said last weekend that they are “working hard to deliver BST Hyde Park 2020 but these are challenging and unprecedented times which remain fluid and ever changing and so over the past week we have been seeking further clarification on the Government statements surrounding the emergency services and major UK events.”
They added that the “consultation remains ongoing” and that they will make a further statement “in the coming days”.