The Wannasee Festival is a popular tribute music festival held in Penrith, a town in Cumbria, England, which was meant to take place over the August bank holiday weekend. However, poor weather conditions this year has led to the event being postponed.
As reported by the BBC, when organisers viewed the site where the festival was meant to be held, they found the ground was “soft and saturated underfoot,” meaning they could not run the event “to standards which are required to ensure it is safe and satisfactory.”
The Wannasee Festival is normally held every year and showcases performances by some of the best tribute bands from the UK and beyond, replicating the sounds, style, and energy of famous bands and artists from various genres. The festival typically features acts paying homage to iconic bands such as Queen, ABBA, The Beatles, and more.
Wannasee Festival, 2022
The Wannasee Festival is designed to be a family-friendly event, offering not just live music but also various activities, food stalls, and camping options, making it a full weekend experience for attendees. The event has gained a reputation for its lively atmosphere, high-quality performances, and a strong sense of community among music lovers.
This year the festival has acted out of caution following the public backlash they received after the 2023 event due to long queues and cars being pulled from mud with tractors. Following the public criticism, the festival released a statement:
“This year the feedback was that despite spending more money than the event earned, it wasn’t good enough, and that gave us some real food for thought. The consensus was originally that the event had reached it’s time and we should call it a day, however lots of debriefing by the team and constructive debate has caused us to believe that it’s possible to continue to run Wannasee Penrith in a different format with a deliberate effort to reduce the scale and “return to its roots”.
In announcing the unfortunate cancellation of this years festival, organisers said: “We share the disappointment in being unable to stage the festival, as planned, but we are sure you will understand that safety must come first and to try and run the festival in hugely muddy conditions would be much too risky and we have fallen victim to this wet summer, as, sadly, have dozens of other festivals.”
